Letters from the Past
by stingrae90
Summary: Kuzon was never one to sit quietly when things didn't go his way. Why should Aang disappearing be any different for him? Spoilers for end of series.
1. The Boy

A/N: I don't own Avatar, alas. I just like the sandbox and intend to play in it for a while.

--

Aang sighed as he landed in one of the many gardens the Fire Palace. He'd been taking a much needed break from the duties he'd gained since deciding to stay in the Fire Nation for the time being. He'd really wanted to restore the Southern Air Temple, maybe not necessarily live there, not with all the memories, but he'd definitely wanted to be able to spend more time restoring the home of his childhood than he'd been able to.

To be fair, Zuko and Katara and everyone else had tried everything they could to give him time to restore his old home. But things were too hectic right now, the peace too fragile, for him to take the time. Teo and the others that had redone the Northern Air Temple were doing most of the cleaning and refurbishing right now.

It had stressed him out, that he couldn't help as much as he wanted, and several run-ins with a particularly obnoxious Earth Kingdom envoy had stretched his patience to the limit.

"_Yes, yes, Avatar Aang. Your defeat of the Fire Lord was most impressive. However, I really feel that you haven't fully considered the ramifications of your decision to stay in the Fire Palace."_

"_Envoy-" The plump, monkey-faced man cut Aang off before he could even complete the title._

"_I understand you had to master the other three elements rather quickly, Avatar Aang. And I feel this must have diminished the amount of time you could take to study the political climate of our times. It really would be better if you chose to make your home in the Earth Kingdom. We could provide you with every amenity you have here, and the people would find it easier to approach you. Many feel as if you aren't considering the hundred years of war-"_

"_Envoy-!" This time Aang's voice strangled in his throat before he could get the rest of the title out. He took several deep breaths, desperately reigning in the impulse to blast this idiot several feet away from him. Maybe into a nice wall. That'd worked so well during the war, why not now?_

"_-that the Fire Nation inflicted on the rest of the nations. After all, you did disappear for that time frame and – urk!"_

_Aang had finally had enough. With two quick shifts of his feet, he'd knocked the monkey-faced envoy off balance and then onto his behind in the dirt. He glared down at the man, wishing he could just encase him in the rock and be done with him. But Zuko'd be mad enough at him for just knocking an envoy over. It wasn't diplomatic at all._

"_I'll take your _opinions_ into consideration." He said curtly, glaring. "But I have no intention of moving my home again so soon. Good day." He barely made the requisite depth for a polite bow. For once he was grateful for the status being the Avatar gave him. He didn't have to bow nearly so low to someone like that…that obnoxious…_

_There really wasn't a word foul enough to describe him, Aang decided. He'd have to see what nickname Toph could come up with for him. It would be amusing, to say the least._

_He snapped open his air staff and leapt up to the wind, seeking comfort in his first element._

Now, as he spun the staff over itself to close the wings of the glider, he glanced warily around. He hoped he'd managed to time his arrival well enough to avoid any more of that _sort_ of envoy taking a short cut through the palace gardens to get to the banquet hall for dinner. Aang himself wasn't hungry, having found some berries and other assorted fruits while he'd been cooling off his temper.

So far, the coast looked clear. Grinning, in a much better mood than he had been now that the obnoxious and overbearing envoy wasn't in his immediate vicinity, Aang sauntered through the garden, enjoying the peace and quiet.

And groaned when he heard voices around the next stand of trees.

"You can usually find the Avatar in one of the gardens if he isn't in important meetings."

That was one of the secretaries that Zuko's uncle had introduced to both his nephew and Aang. He'd told them they needed someone who could organize the various people who wanted to meet with them and air grievances. After the first week of dealing with it on their own, involving many headaches and far too little sleep, Zuko and Aang had come to the mutual conclusion that a secretary would be a wonderful person to have around.

Now, Aang liked the secretaries. They made dealing with his duties a bit easier. But he really, really didn't want to do any official Avatar duties right now. He just wanted to be by himself or with his friends, with no talk of rebuilding or repairing _anything_.

"I don't want to disturb him, really. I don't need a meeting. I just need to give these to him."

Aang cocked his head, intrigued. A person who wasn't falling over himself in excitement to meet the Avatar? Maybe this wouldn't be so bad. He stepped around the trees before the duo could and greeted them with a polite smile.

"Were you looking for me?" He asked, and blinked as he saw the boy standing with the secretary.

He had golden eyes and black hair, rather normal in the Fire Nation. But what arrested Aang's gaze was the way he held himself, his friendly face and the old, scruffy looking bundle of scrolls he was holding. He could see a symbol on one of the scrolls. And it looked very familiar.

A flame hovering just above a rock, with little lines denoting air swooping all around the central symbols. It was something he'd last seen over a hundred years ago.

"Avatar Aang, this young man wanted to see you about these scrolls. If you're not too busy…"

"I'm not, no." Aang pulled himself together with a snap. He smiled and thanked the secretary for showing his guest through and motioned his guest towards a fountain. The secretary bowed and left. Aang perched on the fountain's edge, watching the boy curiously.

_An open face, golden eyes glinting with mischief, peeked out at him from the bushes. A hand reached out to snag his tunic and dragged him into the bush as well. Aang yelped and a hand clapped over his mouth._

"_Shh! You'll get us caught before the fun starts!"_

"_What fun?" Aang whispered. The boy grinned._

"_I put a rooster-frog in the master's desk."_

"_Why?" Aang wondered. A snort._

"_Because it's funny to see what happens, of course. And the guy's a mean, old man. He's never fair to his students in the Academy."_

"_Oh." There was a yelp and a crash from the building. The other boy snorted a laugh and grinned widely as he turned to Aang._

The boy moved over and stood by a tree close to the fountain, fidgeting a little nervously.

"What's your name?"

"_Aang. What's yours?"_

"My name is Ryou."

"_Kuzon. Nice to meet you, Aang."_

The young man administered a mental smack, since he couldn't shake his head. This boy in front of him wasn't his old friend. Kuzon was long dead by now. And it hurt to acknowledge that, but it had happened. Boomie'd confirmed it for him.

"What did you need to see me for, Ryou?" The boy blinked and looked down at the scrolls in his hands. He stepped forward and offered them with a solemn bow.

"It has been my family's duty to guards these scrolls until they could be given to you, Avatar. Pardon me for being so late in brining them, but it was not an easy journey to reach the Fire Palace."

Aang took the scrolls, confused. "That's okay. I didn't even know I was supposed to be getting scrolls anyway…" A slightly messy hand had scrawled his name on the outside of the first scroll. Aang recognized the writing.

"You wouldn't have known, Avatar. They were written after you disappeared." The boy winced a bit at his gaffe, but plowed on. "The first was written by my great-grandfather, and the other was written by a good friend of his."

"W-what was your great-grandfather's name?" Aang managed to stammer out.

"His name was Kuzon, Avatar." The boy cocked his head quizzically. "I'm told you knew him."

Aang couldn't answer. He was holding a letter from his old friend. Delivered a hundred and one years after it'd been written, but that didn't matter. With a shaking hand, he unrolled the scroll.


	2. The First Letter

A/N: Just a little fun fact. I made up the ostrich-parakeet. I imagine it to be about three to six inches in height, with the (non)flying capabilities of an ostrich, the voice of a parakeet and a blend of thier physical characteristics, of course. In my mind, it's a very annoying little creature. I don't own Avatar, however, and am just playing in this nice sandbox. Please review and tell me what you think.

--

_Aang,_

_Next time I see you, I'm going to get Boomie to encase your feet in rock and then hit you so hard the Avatar before _Roku _is going to be seeing ostrich-parakeets running around his head!_

_Why didn't you come to me when you found out? If you were that upset, I'd have let you hide out at my place. You know my dad's always away on business and I could talk Mom around. _

_But what is so terrible about being the Avatar, anyway? So you can bend all four elements and you have to smack down evil bad guys when they get uppity. Who said you had to do it all alone? Where is the rule that says the Avatar's friends can't help him out? I'd teach you firebending, Aang, and I know Boomie'd love to play 'master,' even though we all know he needs a LOT more practice before he's really as good as he thinks he is._

_I don't know exactly why you ran, just that it had something to do with training in another temple, and I'm still mad that you didn't come to me for help, but I'm behind you all the way, Aang. I'll help you, but you've got to turn up before I can do anything!_

_Kuzon_

Aang blinked back some tears as he finished reading. He could so clearly imagine his friend's voice speaking the words that had been written on the scroll. He could see all the frustration and pain and hurt and loyalty and friendship that had inspired the letter. It was almost as if Aang had sat beside his friend while Kuzon wrote the letter.

Aang carefully rolled Kuzon's letter up and looked at the next one. He recognized this handwriting too. It was Amihan's writing. His eyes widened and a tear slipped down one cheek without his noticing.

"Avatar? Are you okay?" Aang blinked and looked up, startled and a little ashamed. He'd forgotten that Ryou was there. He smiled.

"I'm okay, Ryou. I can't thank you enough for bringing these." Aang held the scrolls as tightly as he dared, not wanting either to break in his grip. A smile was insisting on spreading over his face, and Aang didn't try to stop it.

"You know, I've had to deal with people before who were angry at me for disappearing for a hundred years. As if I'd somehow purposely got myself frozen in a block of ice." Ryou snorted a laugh, for a moment sounding so remarkably like Kuzon that Aang could see his friend clearly in his great-grandson. "But I've never known for sure what people back then thought about it. Especially my friends."

"I'm glad my family was able to keep them safe, then." Ryou said. "Avatar-"

"It's Aang." The airbender said firmly.

"I couldn't…" began the protest. Aang cut it off with a shake of his head.

"Your Kuzon's great-grandson, and you brought me the scrolls." Aang lifted his hands, which still held the scrolls tightly. "As far as I'm concerned, you've more than earned the right to call me by my name."

Aang let Kuzon's scroll rest against his stomach and lifted his now freed hand to rub the back of his head sheepishly.

"And besides, you remind me of Kuzon enough that it sounds weird having you call me Avatar all the time."

Ryou blinked in astonishment. "I remind you of him?"

"Yeah. You don't look all that much like him, really, but you've got a lot of his mannerisms." Aang fumbled for a way to explain what he really could only feel. "It's…the way you move and your expressions…Have you ever seen someone you've never met before, and just known they were related to someone you knew?" He asked, slightly desperately. Ryou's face lit with understanding.

"Yeah! My friend's cousin. He looks a lot different but the way he talks, and…oh. That's how I remind you of my great-grandfather?"

"Yeah, that's it." Aang grinned and Ryou returned the expression with one of his own.

"I'm sure you want to read the other scroll, A-Aang." The name came out with only minimal stumbling on Ryou's part. "I'll just go-"

Aang jumped down, tucking both scrolls into his robes as he went, and grabbed Ryou by the arm.

"I'll read Amihan's letter later. Right now I want you to meet my friends. Have you got a place to stay while you're here?"

"I found an inn down in the city that has a decent price for a few days' stay. I got a room there."

"Well, we can find you a room here, and it doesn't cost anything either. I'm sure you'll need the money for your journey back home." Aang stopped a moment, as if contemplating a sudden thought, then started up his fast walk again, still dragging Ryou.

"I don't want to impose-"

"You're not imposing. There are like a hundred rooms here that no one ever uses! I didn't even know there could be this many rooms in one building before we came here." Aang grinned back at Ryou, who had managed to match his pace to Aang, and was no longer stumbling along. "Kuzon used to tell all sorts of stories about the Fire Palace, I thought he was just exaggerating until a few months ago."

"I didn't think my great-grandfather ever lived here."

"He didn't, but his dad took him on one of his business trips and he told me, Boomie and Amihan about it when he got back.

"Aang, who is Amihan? All I know is that she was a good friend of my great-grandfather's."

Aang slowed somewhat, a sad look coming over his face. Ryou bit the inside of his lip, wondering if he had hit a sore spot.

"She was an airbender, like me, but she lived in the Eastern Air Temple."

"I'm sorry." Ryou said softly, feeling bad for having reminded Aang that he was the last airbender. Aang smiled back at him.

"It's fine. You don't have to be sorry. Amihan would smack me over the head anyway if I went around feeling sorry for myself all the time." Ryou grinned and dared another question.

"What was my great-grandfather like?" Aang came to a complete stop this time and dropped Ryou's arm. Curious gray eyes studied the other boy.

"You don't know? You haven't been told any stories or anything?"

"Oh, I know stories," Ryou said, waving a hand in dismissal. "But the stories I know are of him being a father or grandfather. I don't know what he was like when he was my age, when he was a kid."

"Tell you what," Aang said, grinning widely. "I'll trade you. You tell me stories about what Kuzon was like as a dad and grandfather, and I'll tell you stories about when he was a kid. Deal?" He held out his hand. Ryou grinned and grabbed hold. They shook on it.

"Deal."


	3. The Wisdom of the Eastern Wind

A/N: Just very quickly, Amihan means 'eastern wind.' So that's where the chapter name comes from.

--

Aang smiled as he watched his friends interact with Ryou. He'd found them in the small sitting room that Katara and Suki had commandeered for their group's personal use. The girls had proclaimed it their sanctuary and instructed the servants that they were to never be disturbed while they were in that room. Zuko and Aang had been ecstatic when Katara had tracked them down and told them of it. They didn't use the room often; Zuko because he was the Fire Lord now and had to run the kingdom and meet with officials from the other nations, and Aang because he had to mediate a lot of disputes between the envoys and keep the fragile peace going with his presence.

Sometimes Aang thought the only reason some of the representatives from the Earth Kingdom and the Northern Water Tribe didn't try to have Zuko killed was because they didn't want to deal with an angry Avatar. And Aang had made his friendship with Zuko very clear when he'd stood at his side at his coronation, and not coincidentally sent the message that _this _Fire Lord had the Avatar's approval.

But that was not a topic he wanted to think about right now. Right now, he wanted to watch his friends getting to know Ryou.

"Your great-grandfather was Aang's Fire Nation friend from a hundred years ago?"

"Yes, Sokka, he's already established that. Let it go."

"But this is huge!"

"Why are you having problems with this?"

"Yeah, Snoozles, a great-grandson is a lot easier to accept than another of Twinkletoe's friends from back then living to now."

"Boomie is just strange; it's not hard to accept."

"Right…"

"Um…do you mean King Boomie of the Earth Kingdom?"

"Yeah, you know who he is?"

"Yes! Of course I know who he is. I'm just not used to hearing him mentioned without his title. And my grandfather always referred to him as his dad's crazy friend…so I hadn't heard his name all that much…"

"Hah! 'His dad's crazy friend!'"

"That's a pretty good description actually…"

"I'll take your word for it, Sugar Queen. I've never met him."

"So, Ryou, how was your journey? Where do you live? Do you have any siblings? How did-?"

"Katara! Give him a chance to answer you! Sheesh."

Aang grinned as Sokka and Katara traded annoyed looks and then turned, at the exact same time, to Ryou, who was watching with a slightly bemused look on his face. He blinked as the Water Tribe siblings' attention shifted focus to him and stuttered over his first few words.

"W-well, my journey was okay. It was just really long and a lot of it was boring…"

Aang tuned them out and retreated to a corner of the room, drawing out Amihan's letter as he did so. He could see the same symbol on this scroll that had been on Kuzon's and ran a few careful fingers over it. It had been Amihan's idea; a way to represent the friendship between four young people from three different peoples without saying a word. They'd all taken to drawing it on their letters to each other.

With a slightly apprehensive heart, he unrolled her letter.

_Aang,_

_You know, this Avatar business explains why you always advanced so much faster than I did. It was really annoying back then because I couldn't figure out _why_. Now, I think it's a fair trade for all the responsibilities you'll have as the Avatar. You should probably be able to learn waterbending without much trouble. Water and Air aren't that much different. You'll probably have a little trouble with Earth and Fire, though. Those elements are much more confrontational, just look at Boomie and Kuzon! And I know you hate confrontations. _

_I also know Kuzon is planning on ranting at you for about half of his letter, so I'll refrain and let him say it for me. I am mad at you, but I understand a bit better why you're afraid than the others. We are both Airbenders, after all. And I live in the temple they wanted to send you to, so I know why you didn't come to me._

_But, Aang, there's nothing to be afraid of. You're the Avatar, yes, but that doesn't make you not Aang anymore. You are still my friend, still the silly boy who stuck a slug-beetle in my bed on a dare from Kuzon, and who I blasted off the side of a cliff for doing so! You're still the only one Kuzon will listen to when he gets really mad, still the crazy boy who wrecked Omashu's delivery system with Boomie (I'm wondering just why you're still allowed to go there, after that! Wasn't Monk Gyatso mad at you?), and still the only one who can make me laugh when I'm feeling sad. You are still _you, _Aang. Don't ever forget it._

_Kuzon and I tried to get Boomie to write you a letter too, but he just told us that he wasn't planning on going anywhere, or doing anything stupid, like getting killed, until you came back. And that he was going to give you a hard time for not telling us right when you found out you were the Avatar. Classic Boomie-speak for he's worried, too._

_Just be safe, Aang, wherever you are. You and Boomie and Kuzon are like family to me, and I don't want to lose any of you for any reason for a really long time, now._

_Amihan_

Aang sniffed, remembering the young girl who had always been just that little bit taller than he was, even though they were the same age. The girl he had first met on a journey with Monk Gyatso to the Eastern Air Temple, and how she had let him hide in her room from Monk Gyatso when the time had come to leave. It hadn't worked; Gyatso had seen through Amihan's story easily and dragged Aang away, back to the Southern Air Temple.

Amihan had been his friend, the only other one that really understood him. She'd been a fellow airbender, while Kuzon and Boomie had control of elements that were very different from his. Kuzon and Boomie had been great friends, Boomie still was, but Amihan could understand his mentality in a way the other two never could.

"Are you all right, Aang?" The young airbender looked up and met Katara's concerned gaze. He smiled at her and then past her to Ryou's curious gaze.

"I'm fine." He held up the scroll and his smile spread. "I got to find out what my friends thought of my disappearance, Katara." He explained. "They were mad, but they didn't blame me for it. They wanted to help me. They knew who I was, that I was the Avatar, and they didn't care."

His hands had absently rolled the scroll as he spoke, and he ended up holding it close to his body, as if trying to hug his friend through the letter. His smile turned a bit sad.

"I miss them, but at least I know they weren't really mad at me for disappearing." He said softly. "They were just really annoyed and worried for me." Katara placed a hand on his shoulder and he looked up to meet her understanding gaze.

"They wouldn't have been your friends if they worried for you, Aang." She said softly. "I'm glad you got to find out what they thought."

"I am too." Aang directed his gaze to Ryou, the boy that reminded him of Kuzon so much and felt a mischievous grin spread across his face. "Hey, Ryou, did you know that Kuzon dared me to put a slug-beetle in Amihan's bed?"

"No! Did you do it?" Katara laughed a bit and Sokka perked up at the mention of a prank. Toph cocked her head, as if adjusting to listen to this story better.

"Yeah. You see, it was the first time all of us, Kuzon and Boomie and Amihan and me, had been together for about six months and it was Amihan's birthday in a week…"

--


	4. The Question

A/N: I don't own Avatar. Just the plot.

--

Aang heaved a grateful sigh as the last envoy exited the conference room, signaling the end to a long day of meetings. He heard a soft groan off to the side, and saw Zuko slumped in his chair, rubbing the base of his temples tiredly, and pointedly ignoring the large pile of notes the scribe had left at his elbow before leaving.

"If we have to listen to complaints about crops for _one_ more day, I swear I'm going to abdicate and let Uncle deal with it instead."

"It could be worse," Aang offered. Zuko cracked open his good eye to glare at Aang.

"_How?"_

"That Water Tribe envoy could still be bending your tea into your lap whenever you try to take a drink." Zuko colored a bit at the reminder, more because of how long it had taken him to realize what was happening, after he'd seen the way Katara moved when she wanted to be subtle about her bending. He waved a hand in admittance of the point.

"How'd you get him to stop that, anyway?" The newly crowned Fire Lord asked, curious. Aang grinned.

"I did nothing. I told Master Pakku that one of his students was misbehaving in the meetings and he figured out who by himself."

Zuko winced, feeling a bit of sympathy for the envoy despite himself. He'd only met the waterbending master a few times, but they had been enough to instill in him a healthy amount of respect for the old man. The man had taught most, if not all, of the benders in his tribe, and was tough enough to make even the most bullmoose-headed of them listen to him. He could just imagine what he'd done to his misbehaving student. It certainly explained the almost meek expression on the man's face in today's meeting.

"I've been meaning to ask you something, Aang." Zuko announced. Aang looked over at his friend and cocked his head, inviting Zuko to continue. "Sokka mentioned something about a…relative of a friend of yours from before you were frozen in the iceberg showing up." Zuko's tone made the sentence a question as much as a statement. Aang nodded.

"Kuzon's great-grandson." He said. Zuko sat up, brow furrowing in thought.

"I've heard that name before," he said, sounding annoyed he couldn't think of where right off the bat.

"When you saved me from Zhao as the Blue Spirit, remember? You got hit by an arrow and I got us both out of there."

"And when I woke up you started rambling about your Fire Nation friend from a hundred years ago." Zuko continued, expression clearing as he located the elusive memory.

"What'd he want then?"

"His name is Ryou, and he delivered letters from Kuzon and Amihan, another of my friends from a hundred years ago, to me."

"Letters?"

"Uh-huh."

Zuko frowned a bit.

"How did they survive all this time?"

Aang started and stared at Zuko, who snorted at the confused look on his face.

"Amihan doesn't sound like a Fire Nation or Earth Kingdom name, and it certainly isn't a Water Tribe name…"

"She was an airbender." Aang confirmed, wondering where Zuko was going with this.

"Like I thought. I don't need to remind you what happened to the airbenders," Zuko said quietly, his gaze compassionate. Aang shook his head. "If she wrote a letter to you, then what did she do with it afterwards? Where did she keep it? She couldn't send it to you without knowing where you were. And if Sozin's soldiers had found any letter addressed to the Avatar, they'd have destroyed it."

"Kuzon would have had to hide his letter, to avoid getting himself or his family in trouble for being in communication with the Avatar. So how did both letters survive so long?"

Aang furrowed his brow in thought. "Ryou said his family had been given the responsibility to guard the letters," he finally said, thinking hard about that first meeting with Ryou. "They were to keep them safe until they could be given to me."

Zuko stood, stretching his back out, which was stiff after sitting for so long in one position. Aang stood as well.

"I'm going to ask him about that. You're right. It is odd, that they survived for so long." He started to head for the door, then stopped and glanced back at Zuko, who was gathering the notes the scribe had left.

"Do you want to come? You haven't met Ryou yet." Zuko looked up, and grinning, waved him off.

"I'll meet him later. You have things you need to ask him; there's no reason for me to intrude. I'll try to keep the envoys off your back for an hour or so. I doubt they'll be distracted for longer than that."

"Thanks," Aang said gratefully, and slipped through the door without a sound.

--

Ryou was in his room, sprawled on his back on the bed, contemplating everything that had happened to him in the span of just two days. He'd finally managed to get to the Fire Palace and deliver the Avatar's – Aang's letters. He'd been very firmly guided into taking a room in the palace, but found he didn't mind that much. It was free, and he didn't have all that much money for the return to his home anyway. He'd met his great-grandfather's best friend and was pretty sure he'd started a friendship with him as well. He'd met Aang's friends and been included in their banter and circle with hardly any trouble at all.

It was astonishing, how quickly one's life could change. He would never have imagined he could be friends with the Avatar, even though his great-grandfather had been.

A knock sounded on the door. Ryou sat up and hastily brushed his hair back into place with his fingers.

"Come in," he called, feeling a bit awkward. At home, no one knocked. His parents always told him that they had seen him naked as a baby, so what was there to hide? And his siblings always just snickered at him and said it was fun to annoy him, so why stop?

The door opened, and Aang stepped in, smiling at him. Ryou was beginning to suspect that Aang didn't know how to _not _be happy. There were very few times he'd seen the smile drop from the other boy's face.

"Hey, Ryou! How are you? Do you like your room?"

"Hi. I'm fine, and yes, I like it." Ryou responded, unable to stop the slight feeling of surrealism of having such a mundane conversation with the most powerful bender in the world.

Aang perched on one of the chairs in the room, spinning it around with a short burst of air so he could straddle it and cross his arms over the back to provide a resting place for his chin. Ryou couldn't help but grin; the position was one that reflected a very relaxed presence in front of the other person, and he felt honored Aang was so relaxed around him after such a short time.

"I was wondering, Ryou. Actually, Zuko brought it up and I realized I ought to have thought of it before, but I didn't." Ryou tilted his head to the side, meeting the earnest gray eyes focused on him. "Just how did those letters survive all these years? I mean, the airbenders were attacked-" the flow of words stumbled for a moment, and pain flashed through gray eyes, but Aang plowed on as if nothing had happened. "-and I can't really imagine that the soldiers wouldn't have destroyed any letter that referenced the Avatar as soon as they found it."

Ryou nodded but Aang continued before he could speak.

"And Kuzon would have had to hide his letter too. The Avatar wasn't exactly a very popular person here during the war." Aang's expression turned wry. "Even those Fire Sages wanted to capture me rather than help me, and they're supposed to help the Avatar." Ryou wondered what story lay behind that sentence, but decided to ask later.

Ryou straightened from his semi-slouch on the bed and locked gazes with Aang.

"It was my great-grandfather's idea, actually. It started not long before the Air Temples were attacked…" Pain again reflected in Aang's eyes, but Ryou politely ignored it and went on, relating the story he'd had memorized since he was old enough to understand it.


	5. Kuzon's Plan

A/N: Woah...This chapter grew beyond any of my expectations. It's nearly 4,000 words long! I blame Boomie. He's a lot more wordy than Kuzon and Amihan are...even though most of this chapter focuses on Kuzon...Weird. Anyway, I don't own Avatar, just my plot here.

--

Kuzon quietly crept out of his room and down the hall, a bag slung over his shoulder. The bag contained the type of food that a twelve-year-old boy would consider vital for a secret mission, namely fire-flakes and other foods that parents didn't consider healthy. But it also contained the one thing that made his current activities vitally important.

Aang had disappeared, and the world was descending into chaos.

Now, that might be a bit confusing to those who didn't know exactly who Aang was. And political turmoil in the Fire Nation hardly counted as the world ending, now did it?

But Kuzon knew better. Aang wasn't just his best friend. Aang was the Avatar. And the rumblings coming from the Fire Nation capital were more than puffed up politicians trying to see how many people they could control. Kuzon's father had been getting increasingly worried about the news from the capital, and he'd even canceled a would-have-been profitable trip there for one that had given him much less profit.

To Kuzon, that shouted of coming disaster more than Aang disappearing. After all, he'd only known that Aang was the Avatar for the past three weeks, ever since he'd gotten tired of waiting for Aang to respond to his letter and convinced his parents to let him go see Amihan to find out if she'd heard from him.

Amihan had picked him up and after they'd discovered that both of them were waiting for a letter from Aang, a very unusual event as he usually responded within days of receiving one, they had obtained permission from Amihan's teachers and Kuzon's parents to go see Boomie in Omashu.

They hadn't really expected him to have a response either, and the trip to Omashu had been more to pick him up on their way to the Southern Air Temple than anything else.

But when they'd arrived at Aang's temple, they'd found the masters in something as close to panic as they thought old men should get, and Monk Gyatso, Aang's teacher and mentor, nearly frantic with worry, though he tried to hide it for their sake.

Monk Gyatso had taken them aside, and explained the situation to them. But not before making them promise not to mention anything about Aang being the Avatar to anyone else.

And he'd promised, but that didn't mean Kuzon couldn't do something about his friend disappearing.

As he slipped from the house, side-stepping a ball one of his younger siblings had forgotten to put away before going to bed, Kuzon reached back and patted a pocket of his pack, making sure his letter was still safe and in one piece.

--

Amihan carefully guided her sky-bison, Bituin, along the cliffs surrounding Kuzon's village. Boomie was snoring from his make-shift bed in the saddle and making enough racket to be heard three miles away. Amihan felt one of her eyebrows twitching as her friend let loose a particularly grating snore, but restrained from forcefully waking him up.

Boomie'd had to argue with his parents for hours before they'd agreed to let him come with her to visit Kuzon. Boomie had just gone on a trip with him, his parents had argued, and they'd been at the Air Temple of 'that boy', as they'd called Aang ever since the delivery system debacle, for nearly a week as well.

Boomie'd countered with the fact that he'd only been in the Southern Air Temple for two days, the rest was travel to get back to Omashu, and he hadn't really gotten to do anything with Amihan and Kuzon since they'd all been worried for Aang. He had danced around answering just what had happened to Aang, for the fifth time since the conversation had started, reminded his parents that this visit would be short and was really so he and Kuzon could spend some time with Amihan before she had to return to her training, and they wouldn't see her for another several months.

His parents had come back with a reminder that Amihan was a girl, and while it had been fine for two boys to spend time alone with a girl with no chaperone when they were nine, it was certainly not appropriate now, at twelve. Boomie had nearly choked at the insinuation that he'd do any _mushy _stuff with Amihan and brought up, for the sixth time, that the trip would be short, and Amihan would be sitting on Bituin's head, driving, for nearly the entire time, while Kuzon and Boomie were in the saddle.

And on and on and on.

Amihan had fallen asleep in her chair around what Boomie told her later was the midway point in the argument, but when she woke, it was to find Boomie grinning at her, a pack filled with food and clothing slung over his shoulder.

And so they found themselves flying high over the islands of the Fire Nation, working their way with as much stealth as twelve year olds could must towards the meeting point Kuzon had specified in his letter.

Boomie had fallen asleep at least twice over the last thirty or so miles of flight, and Amihan had finally banished him back to the rear of the saddle to sleep, getting annoyed with having her conversation partner suddenly drift off into incomprehensible sleep-speak or lean precariously to the side and threaten to fall out of Bituin's saddle. Now all she had to deal with was his snoring.

But as Amihan guided Bituin through another banking turn to bring them in line with the intended pick-up point, she brightened, picking out a small figure moving along the edge of the cliff. She grinned and twirled through the air towards the saddle, landing gracefully beside Boomie. She reached down to shake him awake, then thought better of it and simply bent the air around him to throw him to the other side of the saddle.

Boomie came awake with a startled yelp and turned, hands falling into a defensive position despite the lack of rock up here for him to bend with. Amihan fell against the saddle's side, laughing.

"No fair, Amihan! What was that for? I need my sleep!" Amihan couldn't answer for a moment, being too busy trying to catch her breath.

"It…it's…oh, my sides hurt…we're nearly there." She gasped out, holding her aching ribs. Boomie frowned and glanced down and around, locating their destination and the figure on the cliff's edge.

"Oh." He nodded as if it made complete sense to wake him up by throwing him across the saddle, then whirled in a move that, had any rock or earth been around, would have sent a boulder of decent size zipping her way. "But never wake me up like that again."

Amihan just grinned, nearly dancing her way to the reins once more.

"Let's go let Kuzon get this crazy 'super secret mission' stuff out of his system," she called back to him.

--

Kuzon caught sight of the large shape diving for the shadowed area under the cliff and nodded once in satisfaction. He lit a small fire in the palm of his hand, just in case Amihan had not already seen him. Holding up his hand, he waved it briefly in a circle, then extinguished the flame. He waited to a count of fifty, then stepped confidently off the cliff.

"Ow!"

"Quiet, Boomie!"

"Then get off my head, idiot!" Kuzon scrambled onto a clear patch of Bituin's saddle, still glaring at Boomie.

"Happy now?"

"NO! Why did we have to sneak around like thieves to do this anyway?"

"Because there's trouble coming, and we don't need anyone to find out what we're doing."

"Yeah, well, you're just lucky that I don't have-"

"Boys!" Amihan glared at them from her position at the reigns, letting Bituin have her head so she could glare at them. "Honestly, can you not get along for five minutes without me or Aang refereeing?"

There was silence for several moments, as Bituin continued to fly towards their final destination, and the three passengers remembered their missing friend. Amihan turned back to the reins, gripping them tightly, her eyes bright with worry and unshed tears. Kuzon and Boomie looked at each other, held out hands and shook on a silent truce. Then they sat at their respective spots in the saddle, uncomfortably aware there should have been a fourth member to this group.

Kuzon and Boomie didn't move or speak until Bituin angled to land on a small stretch of land hardly big enough to be called an island. They helped Amihan remove Bituin's saddle, then settled around a small campfire that Kuzon lit.

"So, Kuzon, what exactly was this all about?" Boomie asked, uncharacteristically quiet. Kuzon took a deep breath and met the eyes of both of his friends.

"I think that those masters at Aang's temple were right to be really worried that he disappeared."

"Kuzon, he's probably just trying to get his head back on straight. He wasn't prepared to be the Avatar; it was hard enough for him to advance so much more rapidly than the other boys in his temple." Amihan said quietly.

"I'm not denying that's the reason he ran, Amihan. I'm saying that I think there's going to be need for the Avatar - not our friend Aang, but the Avatar - really soon."

"Well, how do you know that?" Boomie demanded. Kuzon shifted uncomfortably.

"I've been listening in on my dad's meetings with the other merchants-"

"Kuzon! Those are private meetings! You shouldn't be-"

"I know that, Amihan! But there was a reason those airbending masters were so frantic. If it was just a case of Aang running off, while there wasn't a need for the Avatar approaching, I think they'd be more mad than worried." He calmed himself with a few deep breaths and continued.

"So I've been listening in on my dad's meetings, and I've heard some…really weird things." He waved a hand in the air, trying to pull the right words out of the breeze. "The other merchants keep talking about the Fire Nation's 'time of triumph' and something about the comet that's coming being the key to our rise to power."

"What, your nation's going to try to conquer the world?" Boomie sounded only slightly incredulous. Kuzon shrugged.

"I don't know exactly. But I think it has something to do with why my dad canceled his run to the capital."

"No way…" Boomie, for the first time since Kuzon had seen him tonight, looked like he was taking this matter completely seriously. "Your dad's never canceled a trading run. It'd take, like…a…a major disaster to keep him from going!"

Kuzon nodded. "Exactly. It cut into his profits too. He actually lost money this month because of it." He turned troubled golden eyes towards Amihan. "And…look, I don't agree with it, but it's just what I've been hearing from some of the guards of the merchant trains that come through…it's really stupid and I don't know how they can believe it…"

"Kuzon, just say it." Amihan said, sitting serenely across from him, not looking troubled at all. Kuzon gulped and swallowed. He spoke to the fire instead of to her, but he started again.

"Some of those guards are talking about rallies they've been to in the capital, where the nobles, and a couple times even Fire Lord Sozin himself, came out to speak to the crowds. And they've been talking crazy stuff, from what I can tell." He gulped once again and finally came to the point. "They say that the Air Nomads aren't really important anymore, that they don't contribute anything to the world, and they ought to just stay in their temples and never come down to the 'real world.'" His emphasis made the phrase nearly a curse. "They say that the other nations, the Fire Nation especially, have progressed so much in the times of peace that there is no need for an Avatar anymore, either," here Kuzon's voice broke, and he cleared his throat so he could continue. "So the Avatar can just stay up there for the rest of his life as well." Kuzon's fists clenched, smoke curling around them, as the ground rumbled underneath them with Boomie's own reaction. The air was curiously still.

Kuzon raised his eyes to meet Amihan's too still face, and said with forced calm. "I don't know how anyone, let alone the Fire Lord, can believe such crap, but it's there. And I think this is why the airbending masters told Aang who he was four years early. They think Fire Lord Sozin is going to do something stupid, something that needs the Avatar to stop."

There was silence for several moments, as the ground slowly stopped rolling, and smoke stopped leaking from Kuzon's fists. Amihan spoke first, the slight tremor in her voice the only indication of her fear.

"So what do we do? We don't know where Aang is." Kuzon drew his pack over to him, reaching in to grab his letter.

"Did you bring yours, Amihan?" He asked, holding his scroll up. Amihan nodded, and with a few quick movements of her hands, had her own letter landing neatly in her outstretched hand. Boomie snorted and crossed his arms over his skinny chest.

"I think we need to hide these somewhere they'll be safe. Until Aang can have them." He swallowed and overrode the curious inquiry starting to come from Amihan's lips. "If I'm right, if Aang's airbending masters were right…then there's going to be Avatar-big trouble coming, really soon. We probably won't be able to see each other very often, if at all, for years at a time." He was forcing himself to meet the gazes of his friends as he spoke, taking comfort in Amihan's quiet acceptance, and Boomie's steady presence. "And…and with the way things are going in the Fire Nation, I don't think it'd be a good idea for anyone to find out that I'm friends with Aang. And I mentioned he was the Avatar in my letter."

"In mine as well," Amihan said softly. Boomie gave a small, wicked grin, looking incredibly smug that he didn't have to worry about incriminating letters. Kuzon glared at him and snapped.

"Not everyone thinks they're going to live for a thousand years, Boomie!"

"I never said I was going to live for a thousand years. Just long enough for Aang to come back so I can give him a piece of my mind for not telling us about being the Avatar." A crooked grin. "And of course, there's so many fun things to do, I'm not planning on dying for _decades_ yet."

"Do you really think it will take so long for Aang to come back?"

The soft question cut off the impending argument as effectively as a wave dousing a small flame. Kuzon's shoulders slumped.

"I think he'd have contacted one of us by now if he could." Pain and worry warred in his eyes, neither gaining dominance. "He's never gone so long without at least writing to one of us, if not all three. Something's stopping him from communicating with us."

"It couldn't be, just, you know, the _obvious?_" Boomie asked, his tone curious despite the challenging words he used. "That he's confused and wants time to himself to sort through it all?"

"I think Kuzon's right," Amihan said slowly. "If Aang hasn't contacted any of us, something's wrong. It might be several months," years went unspoken but understood by all "until we hear from him again. We can't assume that this will resolve itself if we leave it alone."

"So that's why I think we need to hide the letters. Aang might not be able to get to any of us, or maybe just one of us, when he shows up again, and maybe hearing from us in the letters could give him…I don't know…hope or something."

"So where do we hide them?" Boomie asked, throwing in his support of the plan with a simple sentence. Kuzon sighed.

"That's what I haven't figured out yet."

"Well, I can't. No matter how much I wish I could. There's no where in my room to hide even one scroll, let alone two. Aang's letter has been sitting on my table all this time."

Kuzon nodded; that made sense. He looked to Boomie, who looked thoughtful, but ultimately shook his head.

"I would, guys, really. But it's not a good idea. You know my mom's sister and her kids live with my family and me, right?" Nods from the other two children. "My cousins are little, they're annoying little spider-flies, and they can't keep their mouths shut about anything. They come into my room while I'm at school all the time, and mess everything around. If they found you guys' letters, they'd blab to the entire town who the Avatar is. And from there…"

"It'd only be a matter of time before the Fire Nation found out." Kuzon said in defeat. He'd really hoped Boomie could hide the letters. "But, now what? I can't hide them. It's my nation that's being so stupid!"

"Why not?" Amihan asked quietly, sounding as if an idea hovered at the back of her mind.

"Because everyone would figure it out too easily! I mean, come on. The entire town knows I'm friends with Aang, if they found the letters, or even heard a mention of my Air Nomad friend being the Avatar…?"

"But you're friends with two Air Nomads." Boomie said, getting in before Amihan could speak. Kuzon blinked, and stared at his two friends for a moment. Boomie sighed, throwing up his hands in exasperation.

"Come on, Kuzon, you're the one who put together impending doom from rumors and Aang disappearing. You can figure this out, too. Aang and Amihan are both airbenders. Your village knows this. How are they supposed to know which one it is?"

"But-"

"And really, aren't you the best choice anyway? The last place anyone looks for something is always right under their nose." Amihan smiled gently at Kuzon as he gaped like a landed fish at them. He stuttered for a few moments, then quieted and stared reflexively at the fire for several minutes. Boomie and Amihan let him think in peace.

"I have a chest that I keep all my old little kid things in, you know, so I can give them to my own kids, when I'm older? It was my mom's idea," Kuzon added hastily, fending off Boomie's horrified and betrayed look. Amihan simply looked amused. "But I could put them in there. My siblings don't go near it. They're afraid Mom'll make them keep all the embarrassing things from _their _childhoods, too. So far it's only me cause I'm oldest." He absently poked with a stick at the fire, returning to thinking through what he could do aloud.

"And my parents say it's my choice what I keep, so long as the things are meaningful to me or our family, tradition, you know? So they don't go looking through the chest either." A smirk crossed Kuzon's face, a much more familiar expression for both Boomie and Amihan to see on the firebender's face. "I think the letters qualify on both counts, don't you guys? Aang's our friend, and who can say the Avatar doesn't have to uphold tradition?" He gave a determined look to his friends. "For _all _the nations."

Similar determined looks met his own; Amihan's serene and quiet, Boomie's slightly demented looking, but both no less determined than his.

"We'll help Aang out however we can," Amihan said quietly. "Even if all we can do for now is hide the letters and make sure those we know and come into contact with don't believe the lies that are being spread about the Air Nomads and the Avatar."

"Exactly," Kuzon said, and Boomie nodded enthusiastically with him. They'd back Aang no matter what the future held for them.

Three hands met above the fire, holding firm and formally cementing the promise of those words.


	6. Arrogance Defeated

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar.

Note: I've placed an A/N at the bottom of the chapter. I couldn't place it before the chapter this time. Please still read it. But go to the chapter first! ;)

--

Ryou was carefully watching Aang as he finished his story. When he'd reached the part about the lies that had been spread about the Air Nomads and the Avatar, Aang had reverted his gaze to the floor. He didn't seem to be listening, but an occasional half-hearted smile or nod of the head encouraged Ryou to keep going. The Fire Nation boy was a bit disconcerted at the disappearance of Aang's smile.

"So he took both letters back with him, and hid them in the chest. And a few weeks later, when-" Ryou stumbled for a moment, unsure whether he should mention it or not, but knew he had to continue. "When the Air Temples were attacked, my great-grandfather and his friend decided it might be a good idea to make sure there was a next generation to guard the letters. So my family has always been taught that the war was wrong, and that the Avatar would someday come back to stop it, but in the meantime, we had to lay low and make sure the letters were never discovered." Ryou shrugged.

"Then you did come back, and defeated Fire Lord Ozai, and it fell to me to get you the letters." He smiled a bit. "My dad and I talked about trying to get them to you even before you tried to defeat the Fire Lord the first time, but we could never figure out how to get wherever you were before you left. And it was too dangerous to move the letters, anyway."

"We never stayed in one spot too long because we didn't want the Fire Nation to find us." Aang offered quietly. Ryou laughed a bit, trying to lighten the mood. This depressed sounding Aang was not something he was used to.

"Well, it worked. I kept hoping you would stop somewhere near my village just so I could give you the letters, but…" Ryou shrugged expansively; Aang watched him out of the corner of his eyes, smiling a little bit. "You never came near enough, so I just had to wait."

"Well, if I'd known you were waiting we'd have stopped by," Aang said with a smile hovering around his mouth. Ryou grinned at him. Aang shook his head vigorously, and sat up a bit straighter. "Thank you for telling me, Ryou."

"I probably ought to have told you the first day, but-"

"I didn't really give you a chance." Aang interrupted with a grin. "And Katara kept you talking for hours."

"And then Sokka went with me to get my stuff from the inn, while you were called to an emergency meeting." Ryou continued the litany.

"And by the time everything got straightened out, it was too late to talk about anything more. And this morning I had to go to meetings, _again…"_

Ryou giggled at the disgust so evident in Aang's tone and expression. Aang huffed and glared at him for a minute, then his own giggles joined in. It was a welcome relief from the previous depressing mood.

"So I guess this was really the first chance I had to tell you anything, really," Ryou managed through his laughter. He glanced curiously out of his window, gauging the time from the sun's angle.

"Actually, Aang, I thought you'd have been mobbed by the envoys by now. I thought Katara mentioned something about the 'unofficial' conferences that go on after the day's official business ends."

"Yeah, usually I'd have at least four or five of the envoys tracking me down to have 'friendly chats.'" Aang rolled his eyes, letting the other boy know he'd not been fooled by the rhetoric of the envoys. "Honestly, they have to think I'm completely naive. I know they're trying to sound out where I stand on their pet issues." Aang flung his hands into the air in exasperation.

"It's as if they don't hear a word I say during the real meetings. I have to repeat everything at least twice outside of official meetings before they get it."

"So why haven't they ambushed you yet?" Ryou asked, curious. Aang snorted at his phrasing and grinned.

"Zuko's distracting them." He said casually. Ryou blinked.

"The Fire Lord?" He asked. He'd known Fire Lord Zuko and Aang were friends, and he'd known that both the Fire Lord and the Avatar had been in meetings all day; but somehow, hearing his nation's ruler referred to as just 'Zuko' made the Fire Lord seem like a different person.

"Yeah." Aang's smile was understanding, as if he knew exactly how confused Ryou was. "You'll get to meet him eventually." Ryou choked on air at that.

"Meet the Fire Lord?" He sputtered. Aang laughed and waved away Ryou's concern.

"Well, if you want to call him that, I guess. But I was talking about meeting my friend Zuko." Ryou managed to get his breathing back under control and swallowed his trepidation. Meeting the Fire Lord couldn't be any harder than meeting the Avatar's other companions had been, could it?

"Relax, Ryou, he won't bite your head off." Ryou glanced at Aang sidelong, still not quite sure what he felt about this. "You didn't have a problem meeting Katara, Toph, and Sokka. They're just as famous as Zuko is." Aang pointed out. Ryou nodded, but still wasn't quite convinced.

"I was still nervous, though." Aang smiled compassionately and opened his mouth to speak, when there came a sudden pounding on the door.

"Yo, Twinkletoes! You've got envoys coming!" Aang groaned and dropped his head down onto his arms. Ryou got up and opened the door to admit Toph.

The blind girl grinned in Aang's general direction, throwing a jaunty wave Ryou's way as she entered the room.

"Sparky said he kept them occupied as long as he could." The Earth Kingdom girl's head tilted to the side. "Actually, you have _an_ envoy coming. One of the ones from the Earth Kingdom." Her head turned so her sightless eyes were turned towards Aang's face. "You mentioned something about one of the Earth Kingdom envoys annoying you yesterday. Was he big, fat, and stupid-sounding?"

"His face looks like a monkey," Aang grumbled, but didn't refute the other qualities Toph had named. He really wasn't looking forward to another encounter with the man. Today's meeting had been awkward enough with the envoy half-way down the table from him. The earthbender cracked her knuckles and grinned.

"Well, I think I know how we can get him to back off for the rest of the week."

Aang perked up quite a bit at that. "How? We can't encase him in the rock, however tempting it is."

"Thought about doing it already, haven't you, Aang?" The girl's feral grin hadn't slipped in the least. "I was more thinking along the lines of a sparring session."

"Sparring?" Ryou asked, confused. Aang looked as if Toph had lost him too.

"Of course! You defeated the Phoenix King of Getting his Butt Whooped no problem, but," a small finger waved under Aang's nose. "That doesn't mean you've got complete mastery of every element. You still need practice." Toph folded her arms over her chest and grinned around at all of them.

"And what envoy is going to argue with _three_ of the Avatar's teachers?"

"Three?" Aang echoed. "But you're the only one here, Toph. Katara and Zuko are-"

"Going to be meeting us here, before we go to our sparring location, of course."

Ryou poked his head out of the still open door to his room, and darted back in quickly as he saw a rather large, fat, monkey-faced man coming down the corridor at as fast a pace as his bulk would allow.

"You two better decide quickly what you're going to do, he's almost here."

Aang and Toph matched glances for a moment, then both nodded simultaneously.

"We'll need your help for this, Ryou," Toph said, turning towards him and Aang softly closed the door to avoid drawing unnecessary attention from the fast approaching envoy.

--

A young Fire Nation boy darted past him, intent on some errand. Envoy Harisha, of the great Earth Kingdom, did not notice him more than to note he had come from the room he was bound for.

_I will get the Avatar to see things my way. He is still just a boy, for all of his power. _He thought as he neared the room. There were voices coming from inside. _He is stubborn, so it's taking longer than I expected, but the Avatar will come to live in the Earth Kingdom. The Earth Kingdom is the only nation that deserves the honor of being the home of the Avatar. Most certainly the Fire Nation does not deserve that distinction!_

"I ought to kick him all the way to Omashu for forgetting!"

"Toph, we were in meetings all day. Zuko didn't really have time to remember it."

"We've been planning this sparring session for three weeks! It was Sparky's idea!"

"He's had a lot to handle recently, with all of the peace talks. Relax, Toph. Ryou will remind him and Zuko will meet us there."

_That's the Avatar's voice; good, he is here. But who is the other with him? It sounds like a girl…though she's very strident for such a young sounding person. _Harisha shrugged. _She will simply have to step aside so I may discuss the Avatar's living arrangements with him. And of course, if I happen to get special concessions out of him for the Earth Kingdom, all the better. In fact, I could probably…_

The door flew open, nearly hitting Harisha in the nose. A young girl stalked out, the cloth of her tunic well-made in simple greens and browns. Earth Kingdom colors. Her hair fell slightly in front of her eyes, which, once Harisha regained his balance and took a proper look, were oddly clouded.

_Is she blind? She doesn't seem to have trouble walking, though. And she stopped before she ran into me, which indicates she saw me…_

"Move."

"Young lady," Harisha started, drawing himself up to his full height. He wasn't about to let some upstart little brat order him around.

"I'm sorry," the girl's voice was honeyed sweet. "Move, _please."_ The hands folded in front of her tunic and the small bow were the height of etiquette, but somehow the girl managed to convey contempt all the same.

"I am an Envoy of the Earth Kingdom, little girl," he ground out, managing to hold onto his temper by the barest threads. "You will treat me with respect."

"Ah, Evnoy," The Avatar had appeared behind the girl, and he looked amused for some reason. But for the moment, Harisha's focus wasn't the young Avatar.

"I require you to-" he began, glaring down at the little girl he decided must be blind, no matter her sure steps, for surely everyone knew who he was on sight!

"Require?" Her voice was deadly soft. "You require me to do something? Oh, I don't think so, _Evnoy."_ One foot rose and stomped back down, bouncing the ground underneath Harisha's feet. He stumbled and grabbed at the still open door to stay upright.

While his body flailed for purchase on the suddenly treacherous floor, his mind was busy connecting all the clues that had been right in front of his face.

A blind girl, no older than eleven or twelve.

Earth Kingdom style clothing, well-made, for all the practicality of the outfit.

A companion of the Avatar, to be speaking with him so informally when he had arrived.

An earthbender.

She was Toph Bei Fong.

_Eep, _went a small corner of Harisha's brain. He'd just insulted the heir of the Bei Fong family. One of the most influential families in the Earth Kingdom.

"I am Toph Bei Fong. I taught the Avatar how to earthbend. I invented metalbending. I've done more in my life so far than you will ever do. You will never speak to me like that again, _Envoy." _His title seemed a mockery when spoken with such venom.

"Lady Toph, I never meant…"

"Of course you meant it. Until you recognized me as the only daughter of an influential family. You're a disgrace to our nation."

Footsteps echoed down the corridor, Harisha turned, hoping it was only a servant who had chanced upon his disgrace. He could silence a servant easily enough with a well-placed bribe.

For a moment, it seemed the spirits had favored him, for the Fire Nation servant boy from earlier came down the corridor towards him.

Then Harisha saw who accompanied the boy. A blue tunic with a flowing skirt, well-made and looking very much like the same type of sturdy clothing Lady Toph was wearing; hair pulled back from her face in a curious mix of traditional Fire Nation and Water Tribe styles. Clear blue eyes, and a confident stride that seemed to make her flow down the hallway.

Lady Katara. Another of the Avatar's companions, the one who had taught him waterbending, and a young woman who was well on her way to becoming a legend around the entire world, not just in her own nation.

"Katara!" Lady Toph waved cheerfully at the approaching girl, who smiled and nodded at her before turning a curious gaze on Harisha.

"Envoy Harisha, I had thought the Earth Kingdom envoys were meeting to finalize the goals your kingdom wishes to work for, before the final round of meetings commence."

"Ah, yes, Lady Katara, they are…I mean, we are. I just wanted to obtain the Avatar's opinion on a small matter before I joined them."

"You're lying." The flat statement came from the Bei Fong heir behind him. "I can tell when people lie, Envoy. You're so nervous a turtleduck could tell that you're lying."

"Oh, Toph, be nice. I'm sure the Envoy was merely confused." There was something of a predatory glint in Lady Katara's eye that unnerved Harisha, despite her supporting words. "After all, we're all working so hard to promote a new era of peace and friendship. No one would want to jeopardize everything that's been accomplished so far."

An elegant shrug. "And besides, any envoy whose actions deliberately threatened the peace we're building here would be escorted from the palace and sent back to their home nation immediately. All the delegations agreed on that in the first week of the talks."

The young waterbending master turned a smile Harisha's way. "I'm sure the envoy knows this and would never dream of doing anything of the sort."

Harisha nearly tripped over his normally glib tongue, agreeing with her.

"Of-of course, Lady Katara, you're perfectly right. I would never try to jeopardize these talks. They are the most important event any of us will ever witness in our lifetimes. I'm honored to be a part of them."

"Oh, Envoy…" Harisha winced at the semi-threatening note in the Bei Fong girl's voice. "I'd watch your words. They could get you in trouble."

"What's getting who in trouble?" came a new voice; this time, one that Harisha recognized instantly. He'd been hearing it every day for the past several weeks, after all. He swallowed and turned to bow respectfully to Fire Lord Zuko.

And had to work hard to contain his surprise, at the newly crowned Fire Lord's attire.

Like the clothing worn by Ladies Toph and Katara, Fire Lord Zuko's tunic and breeches were well-made, but serviceable. The sort of clothing one could comfortably exercise in, without the fear of ruining the clothing. Certainly not the fine robes he'd been wearing every other time Harisha had seen him.

_Sparring session, didn't Lady Toph say? Something about a sparring session…_

"Toph was just reminding us how words can get you into trouble, Zuko," the Avatar said cheerfully. And maybe Harisha was imagining it, but he could swear the Avatar had glanced at him before he spoke.

"Oh. That's very true. We would all be wise to remember that, Envoy Harisha, during the talks to come."

There it was again, that tone of voice that was completely polite, and non-threatening, but that made Harisha inexplicably nervous as well. Though maybe this time his nervousness could be contributed to the fact that he'd never been comfortable around firebenders, the Avatar excluded of course, and Fire Lord Zuko was a firebender. Reportedly the very one who'd taught the Avatar, too.

"You're late, Zuko!" Lady Toph scowled at the much taller boy, ignoring Harisha. The teenage ruler held up his hands defensively.

"Hey! I've been busy. You can't blame me for not remembering one thing!"

"Yes, I can. And I am, because this 'thing' was YOUR idea. And you _forgot!"_ The girl threw her hands into the air in an expression of complete exasperation.

"Well, I'm here now, aren't I?"

"Then let's go." Katara said, her smile turning eager. "I haven't had a decent sparring session in weeks! Oh, and Aang, I found a new waterbending move I wanted to show you, too. It seems like it'd be really useful, but we need to refine the movements; it's too complicated to be useful right now, but the-"

"Katara!" Toph sounded like every other girl her age for just a moment. Whining because the attention was no longer on her. "This is supposed to be a sparring match! You and Twinkletoes can mess around with fancy movements later!"

"Calm down, calm down," Harisha was starting to feel distinctly out of place now. None of the powerful teenagers here seemed to remember he was in the room. "We can do both, Toph. We have to warm up anyway. It'd be a bad thing if someone pulled a muscle because we were too impatient."

"Whatever, let's go!" And she stomped down the corridor, snagging Katara's arm on her way, and dragging the older girl back the direction she'd just come from. Harisha wondered if he could now broach his chosen topic of conversation with the Avatar, but abruptly shut his mouth when he turned to find Fire Lord Zuko staring at him with his arms crossed over his chest.

"I would remind you, Envoy Harisha, that the peace talks have ended for the day. We are all tired. This is a time for everyone to be with their friends and family, to renew their energies for the coming day."

"Well, yes, Fire Lord, it is-"

"I'm glad you agree with me." The teenage Fire Lord gave the briefest of bows possible and grabbed Aang by the upper arm, leaving Harisha gaping and unsure of the proper response. "Come on, Avatar," and the title seemed more of a challenge than anything. "Let's see how much of what I taught you has fallen out of your head with all of the peace talks."

"Hey! I remember everything you taught me, Zuko. I bet I could beat you in a match."

"Why don't we test that theory then?"

Harisha watched the foursome retreat down the corridor, mouth agape, wondering just how four children had managed to outmaneuver him.

_It's…how is this possible? I have infinitely more experience than they do in court politics! They shouldn't have been able to outmaneuver me so well._

Harisha's mind skittered in circles for several moments, before he managed to pull himself mostly together.

"I'll just let them think they won this round," he sniffed haughtily, turning to leave. He ignored the part of his mind that was drawing uncomfortable parallels between the Avatar's attack on him yesterday and the way his companions had all but threatened him into leaving the Air Nomad alone.

He never noticed the smothered laughter of the servant from earlier echoing down the corridor, as the boy ran to catch up to his friends.

--

A/N: Harisha means lord of monkeys, first of all. The name is derived from Sanskrit but is also another name for the Hindu god Vishnu. I mean no offense to anyone of the Hindu religion. I'm not making any type of cracks at your way of life here. It was just the name that fit.

Second, I really wanted to put more of Ryou's perspective in the later part of the chapter, but it came out stilted when I tried it. I'm thinking of putting up a series of one-shots/missing scenes from this story, since there are a few places I wanted to expand, but couldn't because it interrupted the flow of the story. If you guys are interested, tell me about it in your review. I won't post it unless I get enough interest.


	7. Sparring: Bending and Otherwise

A/N: I have exciting news! I now have a beta for this story. You should all go thank Caelum Blue for the awesome beta-ing skills and advice. Caelum's been SO much help in writing this chapter and getting me back on track for this story. If you haven't already, you should all go read Caelum's story Vintage Gaang, which features the antics of Aang, Kuzon and their friends before Aang was frozen in the iceberg. It's a wonderful story. Anyway, go read and review and tell me what you think of this chapter.

--

Ryou hadn't had to go far before he caught up with Aang and the others. They had stopped three corridors away, leaning against the walls, laughing. At least, Katara and Aang were leaning on the walls for support. Toph stood in the center of the hallway, loudly imitating the envoy's flustered voice as he'd realized he'd been outmaneuvered by four teenagers. The effect was only slightly marred by the intermittent giggles that insisted on erupting every so often. Fire Lord Zuko looked extremely pleased with the entire situation, and was even chuckling quietly, but he didn't need the wall's support to stay upright.

For a moment, Ryou felt that he shouldn't intrude. The young Fire Lord hadn't seemed to be angry with him when he'd interrupted him earlier. He'd actually been very helpful, pointing him in the right direction to find Katara. But then, that had to be just because he was only delivering a message from people the Fire Lord considered friends, didn't it?

"_I was talking about meeting my friend Zuko."_

Aang's voice rang through Ryou's head, and his heart calmed down somewhat. Maybe Zuko was the Fire Lord, but he wasn't like the rest of his family. He wasn't his father, who had featured in Ryou's nightmares several times. The Fire Nation boy shuddered briefly, remembering the anger the dream version of Fire Lord Ozai had displayed when he'd caught Ryou trying to help the Avatar.

_He's not his father. Aang wouldn't have approved of his coronation if he was, you know that,_ he scolded himself. There was no reason to be afraid of Zuko.

He still hadn't convinced himself to move forward when Toph noticed him.

"Ryou! You had perfect timing!" she called, dropping her imitation of Harisha. She grinned widely at him. Ryou grinned sheepishly, a bit embarrassed by the sudden attention, and moved forward.

"I just told Katara and Fire Lord Zuko what was going on, that's all."

"Yeah, but you did it quick enough so we could pull it off." Aang put in. Zuko glanced thoughtfully at the other Fire Nation boy, then huffed slightly.

"It's Zuko, Ryou," he said firmly. Ryou blinked, astonished.

"Um…what?" he asked, confused. Zuko snorted.

"My name is Zuko." The older boy spoke slowly, as if he believed Ryou had hit his head and was having trouble processing simple information. "Both the court and the envoys have retired for the night. I don't make my friends call me Fire Lord when it's not necessary."

"Oh." Ryou was still off-balance from the unexpected statement. He couldn't be serious, could he? The teenaged ruler couldn't possibly consider him a friend, could he? But then, he'd just said, and then he'd, but…Ryou blinked his eyes a few times in rapid succession, hoping to clear his whirling mind. It didn't help. Zuko smirked and turned away, starting down the corridor.

"I don't know about any of you, but I'd rather not get caught lying to an envoy, even one as annoying as Harisha."

Aang sighed, looking dejected again, but then he brightened considerably.

"Hey, that means we can actually have a sparring match."

"That was the point!" Toph yelled. Katara calmed the other girl down with a few well-placed words and grinned over at Ryou.

"You want to come? We could use a referee. Sometimes certain people won't admit when they're out," she said, slightly louder so her voice reached all three of the others. Zuko and Aang exchanged sheepish looks and ducked around the corner quickly, avoiding her gaze. Toph snorted and crossed her arms, stalking down the corridor mumbling about opponents being too concerned with stupid rules to care about the actual fight.

Ryou laughed outright at their reactions, and nodded his agreement to Katara, since he couldn't speak at the moment.

--

Ryou looked around curiously. Zuko had led them to a semi-secluded spot outside of the main city. It had been the practice ground where he and his sister, Azula, had learned to firebend, but it hadn't been used in several years since Zuko had been banished and Azula had become the heir apparent, who therefore had better things to do than continually practice her bending.

The practice ground was inside a natural valley, with rock walls surrounding it on three sides. The fourth side provided the only easy entrance and exit. There were two guards stationed there, a compromise Zuko had worked out with the head of the palace guard.

Ryou had been slightly surprised to find that Zuko couldn't just do what he wanted because he was Fire Lord. His actions and behavior determined how the other three nations viewed the efforts he was making towards peace. It was why he'd insisted that the sparring match actually take place, not that anyone had disagreed. Ryou suspected they all wanted to let off some steam.

But Ryou hadn't expected Zuko to have to negotiate with his own palace guards. They'd been very nervous about Zuko leaving the palace grounds with no one but his friends. Ryou had seen Zuko's back stiffen at the implication he couldn't defend himself, or that his friends wouldn't help if he was attacked, but the older boy hadn't lost his temper. He had bargained with the guards, managing to get the captain to agree that only two needed to accompany them, since the Avatar was going with him. Aang had backed him up and the captain had reluctantly agreed.

"All right!" Toph stretched her arms above her head, cracking her knuckles at the same time. "Who wants to get beat up first?" She had a slightly maniacal grin on her face. Zuko simply smirked at her, working through some warm-ups and stretches of his own.

"Who says you're going to win this time, Toph?" Katara asked sweetly, swift motions gathering some of the nearby seawater to her and it swirled around her like a playful puppy.

"Yeah, I could win!" Aang put in, grinning all around. Ryou laughed at their antics and headed for the spot Zuko had indicated, that would put him far away from any stray strikes, and still allow him to see well enough to be able to call someone out if he needed to.

"You're all forgetting _I _won last time we sparred." Toph was smug. Aang blinked in confusion and Katara huffed in outrage.

"You did not!"

"Did too!"

"I didn't think anyone won that time. You both just walked off."

Zuko was looking between the other three with confusion. "All four of us haven't sparred together. Ever. What are you guys talking about?"

"This was before you joined us, Zuko." Katara said airily. "And Aang's right. None of us won, because we never actually finished that sparring session."

"_You're_ the one that walked out on it, Sugar Queen. Means I won."

"Oh no, you didn't-" A blast of air knocked Toph backwards as a fireball landed perilously close to Katara. Both girls scrambled out of range, glaring at the two boys when they were safely behind the small wall Toph had erected to deflect any more attacks.

"No fair!" Katara yelled at them. Aang and Zuko exchanged glances and turned back to the girls at the same time.

"I still don't know what you two are arguing about, but we came here to spar," Zuko said, his voice calm. "So let's spar."

"You two can settle who won last time later," Aang put in.

Katara glanced down at Toph, who tilted her head to the side. "I think they're asking for a butt whooping, Katara."

"They most certainly are, Toph."

Zuko and Aang were backing away slowly, slightly panicked looks on their faces. Aang hurriedly erected a barrier of his own to shield the two boys, but it was torn down just as quickly as he put it up.

"Nuh-uh, Twinkletoes. You know the rule. Only one element per match. You already used air. You're stuck with it."

Aang gulped and looked to Zuko, who had settled into a defensive stance, his face resigned.

"We're in trouble, aren't we?" he asked quietly. Zuko nodded.

"We pissed off two master benders, Aang, two _female_ master benders. We're not just in trouble. We're doomed."

--

Zuko, Ryou reflected, had been right. He and Aang were getting battered, and Toph and Katara didn't even seem like they were winded.

Aang was sporting a liberal coating of dirt from multiple close hits from Toph. Zuko's clothing was soaked through, and there were random bits of ice stuck in his hair. Toph's clothing was windswept and her hair stuck out at odd angles, but she didn't seem bothered by it at all. Katara's own clothing had acquired a few burns, but nothing else.

At that moment, Zuko let loose a particularly strong blast of fire in Katara's direction. As said girl was standing below Ryou's vantage point, the fire blast was coming in his direction, too.

It came no where close to hitting Katara, and was even farther from hitting Ryou, but that didn't stop the boy from ducking to avoid the flames. He peeked over the rocks shielding the viewing spot somewhat sheepishly, but no one was paying attention to him.

Ryou might have felt ignored if he hadn't understood that any attention not focused on the sparring match would have resulted in some quite colorful bruises. Aang might be using an element most people now-a-days were used to seeing as calm – unless there was a storm – but he was certainly causing enough havoc to prevent Katara and Toph from uniting in their efforts to pound both boys through the cliff face. Katara had molded the water into something that remarkably resembled the legs of an octopus, and it swirled around her, lashing out at her command and knocking aside the blasts of fire that Zuko was trying to strike her with, to no avail.

Toph was perhaps having the most fun out of the group. She was whipping boulders around with ease and Aang was more often than not forced to leap out of the way of a flying missile. Her taunts alone would have been enough to convince Ryou she was having fun.

Ryou considered the other three benders in the sparring arena, and couldn't say they looked unhappy, either. Katara had a look on her face that Ryou could only describe as satisfaction, and Zuko looked as if he were completely relaxed for the first time since Ryou had met him. Odd as it sounded, since the Fire Lord was in the middle of a sparring match. Aang, even though it didn't look like he'd win his own part of the match, was grinning like mad and moving through his attacks and defenses as if he were playing a game.

Ryou ducked again as a stray bit of broken off boulder zipped overhead, knocked away as Aang deflected Toph's attack. The boy leaned back enough to spot the area it had landed, somehow not surprised to find a small crater in the rock above his head.

_They're all such good benders,_ he thought to himself, somehow happy and envious at the same time. _How can they want to be friends with someone who can't share this with them? Wouldn't it be hard, having to separate those parts of your life?_

Ryou's head hung sadly, all thought of making sure all the participants in this match adhered to the rules gone from his head. His great-grandfather had been a bender, as was his father, but the skill had skipped him, like it had skipped his grandfather. Surely none of them really saw him as an ally, as a friend. He couldn't help them in a battle. He'd be in the way. He couldn't share this part of their lives with them; he had no similar experiences with which to compare.

"Wha'cha doing?"

Ryou jumped in fright, turning and nearly falling on his back as he struggled to see who had come up behind him. A dark hand reached out and steadied him, helping him retain his balance. Ryou looked up into Sokka's dancing blue eyes.

"Shouldn't you be more aware of your surroundings when you're this close to a sparring session between those guys?" Sokka jerked his thumb down towards the ongoing fight, which had somehow morphed since Ryou had last looked, since Katara and Zuko were now fighting side-by-side against Aang and Toph. All four elements were still being thrown around like play-toys, however.

"I guess, but this spot's pretty protected. Z-Fire Lord Zuko said this was where their non-bending teachers would watch them try new, potentially dangerous moves. Ones that would be harmful to someone who wasn't a bender if they went wrong."

"Makes sense," Sokka nodded. "Fire's dangerous. It's not something to take lightly."

Ryou simply nodded, watching the battle, which had morphed again; this time pitting Zuko and Toph against Katara and Aang.

How could he have ever thought he might fit in with these people?

--

Sokka felt very much like smacking someone's head into the wall. He wasn't sure just whose head would be meeting the rock yet, but he'd figure it out. He knew that look on Ryou's face. He had worn it not all that long ago, when he'd been having a crisis of confidence in his own skills. When he had seriously thought about letting Aang and Katara and Toph go on by themselves because he couldn't possibly help them, couldn't contribute and he got in the way too much. The only thing that had stopped him was his promise to his father to protect Katara; his sister could defend herself physically, but her emotions always managed to sneak up and ambush her. Sokka had set himself up as her bulwark for when that happened, and had tried his hardest to prevent the need for his strength from ever happening.

But the point was he knew exactly what Ryou was thinking right now, could see it clearly written all over his face.

_What good am I too them? They can't possibly want me around, not when they can do _that.

'That' was clearly demonstrated by another whizzing boulder and a blast of air that somehow cut the boulder in half.

"You know, Ryou, firebenders are weaker at night and they have absolutely no powers during an eclipse. And they tend to be so aggressive they forget they still have to defend from other attacks. It's easy to take advantage of that."

Ryou blinked, wide-eyed and surprised, up at Sokka. Sokka ignored the look and continued his analysis.

"With waterbenders, you just have to either get them away from water, obviously, or fight them during the day or during a new moon. They're weaker then. Course, Katara can pull water from just about anything, so it's hard to separate her from her element, but that's not the point. If you break their stance, disrupt their balance, whatever you want to call it, you have a good shot at taking them out before they recover. Waterbending is about turning the opponent's strength against him.

"Earthbenders, now those are some hard guys to beat. You really can't separate them from their element; though I suppose if you wanted you could lock them in a metal box. Toph's the only metalbender in the world. But they can still be beaten. They don't like looking for solutions that work around problems. They're direct and straightforward. You can take advantage of that in a fight.

"And airbenders…er, airbender," Sokka shrugged. "I've only got Aang to work from here, but if you can get in close quarters, then he's pretty much toast. He won't have room to bend the air effectively and if you haven't noticed, Aang's kinda scrawny, he doesn't do well when he's faced with a stronger opponent up close. Or anyone really. It took forever to convince him that fancy footwork couldn't solve every conflict for him."

"Why are you telling me this, Sokka?" Ryou wasn't quite sure what to make of Sokka's sudden seriousness. He sounded like a teacher lecturing his students. Ryou was much more used to seeing Sokka joking around and goofing off. Sokka snorted at him.

"Because you're doubting yourself," Sokka grabbed Ryou's shoulder and started to drag him down the trail towards the exit from the training grounds.

"I promised Katara I'd referee their sparring match…"

"Not like they'd hear either of us anyway, they're having too much fun. They haven't gotten to spar since before Zuko's coronation. We've all been too busy."

"Still, I shouldn't just…"

"Oh, come on, Ryou, they won't mind. And I haven't had a decent sparring session in a while either. You can be my sparring partner for a while."

Sokka overrode every one of Ryou's protests to being dragged off the bending training grounds and to the palace training grounds, ones used for less explosive fighting practice. Sokka dropped Ryou's arm as they reached his intended practice court and he spun on his heel, fixing Ryou with a semi-serious glare.

"You don't have to feel like this, Ryou," Sokka didn't blink, didn't even twitch, as wide golden eyes fixed on his face.

"Feel like what?" Ryou was trying to divert him with affected ignorance, and Sokka snorted his contempt of the obvious ploy.

"Like you're not worthy of being friends with such powerful benders. Like Katara, Aang, Toph and Zuko wouldn't want to be friends with you just cause you can't bend."

There was silence from Ryou. Sokka pressed on, at the same time grinning his thanks to a servant who had noticed them and quietly set out a training sword of appropriate length for Ryou.

"You don't have to be a bender to fight well, Ryou. I couldn't bend to save my life, but I can still fight. And I can do things that the others can't."

"Like what?"

There was a brief spark of interest in Ryou's gaze. Sokka felt the beginnings of a smug grin starting on his face. He pushed it down. It wouldn't help if he scared Ryou off. He leaned in close to the Fire Nation boy, and held up a hand to his mouth, as if shielding his words from unfriendly ears.

"I can't tell you." Ryou's eyes fell, disappointed. Sokka continued with a wide grin. "But I can show you."

"Really?" Sokka nodded, then turned Ryou and pointed him towards the practice sword.

"Go get that, and I'll give you a free lesson in non-bending fighting, Sokka style!"

Sokka was feeling very proud of himself as his temporary student ran to get the practice sword and Sokka nodded a greeting to a widely grinning retired general named Hadi, who carried a practice sword of appropriate length for Sokka over to him.

"Don't be too hard on the boy, I doubt he's ever had any real training."

Sokka grinned at the man. Hadi was one of the few older men who hadn't resented the changes that Zuko was making. He seemed to welcome them, actually. Hadi had been quite willing to show Sokka everything he wanted to see in the palace's armory and training areas, and had even sparred a few times with him. They'd gotten to know each other well, despite the vast age difference. Hadi was even older than Sokka's own father, Hakoda.

"I won't be. But I'm not going to let him wallow in self-pity either." The grin faded a bit. "It's not a fun thing to do."

"Nor a wise one. You're a good deal smarter than most boys your age, Sokka."

Sokka blushed a bit at the compliment. "How'd you know I'd need a sword, anyway? I didn't even know I was going to be teaching Ryou until just a few minutes ago."

"I saw him leave with your sister and the others. Then I saw you leave in the same direction. I figured you'd be dragging him back here, and he'd be feeling a little overwhelmed. It's best to always be prepared."

Sokka shook his head at how well the man had come to know him in the few short weeks he'd been here, but he was grateful that the retired general was so attentive to the movements of those in the palace. He hadn't wanted to lose the momentum he'd gained with Ryou just to grab a few wooden practice swords.

At that moment Ryou ran back, a tentative smile making inroads on becoming a beaming grin on his face. Hadi passed the practice sword to Sokka, grinning and repeating his words from earlier.

"Don't be too hard on the boy."

--

"Ow!"

"Don't let your guard down, Ryou! You only got a bruise."

"That _hurt, _Sokka!"

"Be thankful we're using wooden blades, or you'd have a decent sized cut and Katara and Aang would throw me into the middle of the ocean."

Ryou let loose a mostly smothered laugh at that, managing to keep his wooden sword in a defensive position in front of him, this time. Sokka huffed and stepped back, letting Ryou get his case of the giggles out.

_This is fun, _Ryou thought to himself, pulling in several deep breaths to try to calm his laughter. It was only marginally successful. The image of a hapless Sokka getting flung several hundred yards out into the ocean by his ticked off sister and friend was very amusing. _I never thought I'd be any good with a blade – what use does a Fire Nation peasant who will never see battle have for fighting skills? - but Sokka thinks I could be someday, if I practice enough. _

Ryou couldn't quite pin down how that vote of confidence made him feel. He was grateful that Sokka was trying to cheer him up, and to be honest, the Water Tribe boy had accomplished that the moment he'd pointed him towards the wooden practice sword a servant had set out for him. But the older boy hadn't stopped there. Ryou and Sokka had spent the past hour or so fighting their way across the training ground Sokka had commandeered for their use. Actually, Sokka had pushed Ryou around the training ground, calling advice and temporary halts to correct Ryou's stance or angle of attack or defense.

And throughout it all, Sokka had dropped off-hand comments about how to defeat benders of all types; little things that Ryou would never have thought of, but that made perfect sense once they were pointed out to him.

_I thought this morning that I'd made friends with Katara and Toph and Sokka, but I think this proves they think of me the same way. _Ryou finally managed to get his giggles under control and this time it was the Fire Nation boy who initiated the attack, momentarily putting Sokka back on his heels. Ryou saw the appreciative grin spread on Sokka's face, before he found himself forced to duck back and away from a swipe from Sokka's own practice sword.

_I could get used to this, _Ryou thought contentedly. He didn't even mind the numerous bruises he'd have in the morning from this sparring session. They paled in comparison to the knowledge that he'd done more than just fulfill his family's duty to the Avatar, he'd made friends along the way.

--


	8. Late Night Conversations

A/N: Alrighty...we are getting ever closer to the end of this story. I have one more chapter planned, and then an epilogue. It's kinda sad, to be ending the story...but it's already grown far beyond where I thought it would go. Here we are at chapter 8, when I thought it'd have three chapters at the most, and it'll have a couple more before it's properly done.

Anyway, before I start really rambling, go read the story and tell me what you think with that nifty review button!

--

"Ooph."

Ryou flopped back on his bed, wet hair still plastered to his forehead after the quick bath he had taken after he and Sokka had finished their sparring session – and the more recent meeting of Ryou's head with the water in one of the many fountains in the Fire Palace as Sokka had cheerfully used the shock of the cold water to wake Ryou up enough to at least stumble along beside Sokka to the room he had been given. Apparently Sokka thought he needed the shock since he had nearly fallen asleep in his plate of food at his place next to Sokka during dinner. The older boy had dragged him back to his room - with a quick detour to the fountain, of course - with a cheerful admonition to actually make the effort to get into the bed before he lost consciousness again. Ryou had grumbled and made an attempt at a snarky comeback, but couldn't honestly be sure he had even managed a coherent sentence. He was exhausted.

Ryou watched the moonlight play over the walls and ceiling of his room, and gave into sleep, not even bothering to change his clothes. He was comfortable enough in what he wore now.

--

When he woke later, it was only due to the fact that he had shifted in his sleep and managed to fall off the bed.

The moon still shone its light into his room, so Ryou knew he hadn't slept all that long, and felt as if he could have slept for many hours more without fully erasing his exhaustion. Grumbling to himself, he levered himself to his feet, feeling his sore muscles protesting the further abuse.

"Why couldn't I have waited until morning to fall off the bed?" Ryou wearily wondered, managing at long last to get into the bed properly, and gratefully let his head fall back on his pillow.

He sighed happily and turned on his side, fully intending to go back to sleep and not get out of bed until he was forced to in the morning.

_Wonder what Shula would say about me getting a sword lesson from one of the Avatar's best friends?_

Ryou blinked his eyes open in confusion at the random thought that had popped into his head. He couldn't think of where it had come from, and while imagining his little sister's reaction to what had happened between him and Sokka earlier was amusing – Shula would be green with envy, she loved swords, despite never having touched one in her life – Ryou didn't know why the thought had chosen to occur to him now. He wanted to go to sleep, after all, not contemplate how he would tease his little sister about what he'd done above and beyond fulfilling their family's duty to the Avatar.

_Maybe Sokka got a hit in on my head and I was too dazed to notice, _he mused tiredly, rolling onto his other side and dismissing his random musing, preparing to sleep once more.

_Bet you Ravi would say Sokka didn't need to get a hit in on my head. He'd say I do well enough at confusing myself without anyone else's help._

Ryou blinked his eyes open again, wondering once again where the random thought had come from. His youngest sibling and only brother was only nine years old, but already he had developed quite the sharp tongue for a boy his age. And the wit to go along with it. He followed Ryou around almost constantly, and when he wasn't tailing his eldest sibling, he could be found conspiring with their sister, in an attempt to embarrass him more often than not.

"Go – to – sleep." Ryou told himself firmly, turning once again and burying his head in the pillow in a vain attempt at blocking out his wandering thoughts.

_They'll want to hear all about Aang and the others when I get back._

Ryou let loose a frustrated growl that sounded surprisingly like a tiger-bear and sat upright in his bed, hands fisting in his hair on both sides of his head.

_We don't have to hide what we really thought of the war anymore._

Ryou lunged out of his bed this time, as if physical distance from where he really wanted to be would stop his wayward thoughts from continuing. It didn't work.

_But what do I do now? I've always had a mission in life. Even before I was born I had it. The eldest child was always the one to carry the responsibility. And now it's done. I gave Aang the letters, and I told him the story behind why and when they were written. What do I do with my life now that I don't have a purpose?_

Ryou stared blankly at his bed, suddenly not tired in the least, and feeling very much directionless.

_What do I do?_

--

In another portion of the palace, Fire Lord Zuko was also being kept awake by wayward thoughts, though he felt only frustration and annoyance, not depression.

The teenaged ruler gave in finally, running a frustrated hand through his already messy hair and pulled on a loose tunic and breeches and headed for the palace gardens, determined, if he had to spend the night worrying about matters of state, that he would do so somewhere he always felt comfortable.

The garden with the turtle-duck pond where he had spent so much time with his mother.

--

Ryou scrubbed at his eyes with the back of his hand as he wandered aimlessly through the palace hallways, and was slightly surprised to turn a corner and come face to face with an open door leading to one of the many palace gardens.

_I wonder how long it takes people to learn their way around? _

Ryou sighed in defeat and stepped onto the winding pathway through the garden. He hadn't been able to quiet his mind enough to sleep and had eventually come to the conclusion that further physical exercise might be enough to make him sleep.

But he'd been too tired to go to the training grounds and find his practice sword again, so he'd settled on a walk through the palace. Wandering the gardens would be more pleasant than wandering through the hallways, anyway.

So Ryou stepped out into the gardens, wondering briefly why the door had been left open. Not that flowers were really something a thief would want to steal – and there were more easily accessible flowers and shrubs off the palace grounds if any prospective thief did want them – but shouldn't the door have at least been closed?

But that wasn't his problem, and wondering about random open doors wasn't going to calm his mind down any. Ryou scrubbed at his eyes again, and silently pleaded with the spirits to let him sleep.

_Whose idea was it anyway, to make it so that your mind can keep you awake when your body REALLY wants to sleep? NEEDS to sleep?_ He groused in his mind. _I just want sleep. Is that so much to ask? I completed my family's mission, shouldn't that count for something?_

And now he was right back where he'd wanted to get away from.

His purpose in life had just been fulfilled. So what was he supposed to do with his life now?

"No one told me being Fire Lord meant dealing with late crops," a grouchy voice drifted to Ryou's ears on the light breeze flowing through the palace gardens. "Not even Uncle." Ryou blinked blearily, the words registering but not making much sense in his sleep-deprived brain. He knew who this other late night wanderer was, didn't he? "I expected having to deal with politicians who hated me, the Fire Nation. But why do they expect me to fix _their_ crop issues?"

"Crops…?" Ryou wondered. The voice was starting to penetrate the fog in Ryou's mind, and he was pretty sure it was Fire Lord Zuko's voice he was hearing. But the words still made no sense.

"And then that stupid emergency meeting. I mean, come _on,_ did he really expect anyone to take him seriously? A small domestic bit of trouble, and suddenly it's _my _fault? A minor robbing – no one was even hurt! – half the world away and of course the new Fire Lord orchestrated it to disrupt the peace talks. Because of course I'm just as despotic as my father, despite the fact I joined the Avatar and taught him firebending, despite the fact that Aang wouldn't even have known he had to defeat him before the comet came if I hadn't told them about my father's insane idea to burn the whole Earth Kingdom to the ground…though no one else knows I told Aang that…but still-!"

Ryou had continued walking as he tried to make sense out of the muttered words, which had faded in and out of his hearing, as if the person speaking were pacing. And the voice had started to drop into a pattern of rising and falling, rising and falling, rising and falling…

Ryou nearly collided face-first with a tree as his head drooped to his chest, eyes falling slowly closed and feet slowing. He was only saved from that fate by the fact that his foot had kicked a rock and it ricocheted into the tree, creating a dull THUNK that jerked Ryou back awake.

And caused him to yelp in surprise to find himself so close to the tree that had been on the far side of the path he'd been wandering the last he remembered.

"Who's there?!" The voice called, not sounding worried, but definitely sounding defensive. Ryou gulped. Now that he was properly awake, thanks to the adrenaline rush of nearly colliding with the tree, his brain processed the information that it had been gathering since he had first heard the voice.

"Um…Fire Lord, I didn't mean to disturb you. I just couldn't sleep…"

There was a slight rustling of branches, and then the slightly surprised face of the young Fire Lord appeared before the younger Fire Nation boy.

"Ryou," Zuko stated, surprised. Ryou gulped, and bowed, certain he was going to get in trouble for eavesdropping on what was obviously an attempt by the Fire Lord to organize his thoughts and feelings about various matters of state.

"Yes, Fire-"

"I thought I already told you to call me Zuko." The frown on the face of the Fire Lord wasn't really angry, more disappointed, and Ryou was severely confused.

"Um…well, you did, but I-"

Zuko pushed further onto the path, letting the bushes he'd pushed out of his way snap back into place.

"Well?"

"Well…?" Ryou was still confused. Zuko crossed his arms and scowled at the younger boy.

"I assume you meant to give some sort of reason why you don't want to call me by my name, even after I gave you permission. What is it?"

"Oh uh…I mean…it's just…I couldn't…"

Zuko let him stutter for a few more moments before waving the painful attempt at an explanation silent. Ryou was confused by the resigned understanding he saw in the Fire Lord's face.

"Fire – I mean – Zu-" Ryou's voice choked on the second syllable and he couldn't complete the name. His face burned red in embarrassment. Fine job of expressing himself he was doing.

"I'm not going to get angry at you if you just don't want to call me Zuko, Ryou." Golden eyes in a scarred face darted to the side. "You wouldn't be the first person to reject me because of my family."

That last had been said so quietly Ryou couldn't be sure he'd actually heard it, but he reacted solely on instinct, reacted as he would to his younger siblings, if they ever voiced a feeling of such bitter loneliness and hurt, before his frantically scrambling mind could tell him to shut up.

"I'm not rejecting you! It's just I'm having a hard time adjusting to all the changes I've gone through, especially in the last few days. What with meeting Aang and fulfilling my family's duty to the Avatar, and then meeting the others and you, and I don't have to hide what I thought of the war any more, and I just don't know what to with my life anymore and I suppose being afraid of the Royal Family was the one thing I could hold onto, the one thing that didn't HAVE to change and…um…"

Ryou's face, which had briefly resumed its natural skin tone while he was speaking, turned bright red again.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have…I'll just leave you alone. I interrupted you and you obviously have more important things to be doing…I'm sorry…"

"Ryou." The firm voice and gentle hand on his arm stopped the young, embarrassed boy in his tracks. "You don't have to apologize to me for what you feel." The hand turned him around, forcing him to meet the Fire Lord's gaze. "You were honest. Don't ever apologize for that." There was compassion lingering in the older boy's gaze, and Ryou found he couldn't look away. "I can sympathize with how you feel, about not knowing what to do with your life anymore."

"You can?" Ryou felt as if the words had come out of their own volition, and with no conscious effort on his part. This was surreal. Zuko nodded and guided him, gently but firmly, back through the bushes and to a small pond that seemed to personify peacefulness. A firm and callused hand guided him to sit and Zuko settled beside him, pulling his knees up to his chest and resting his chin on them while his arms circled his legs.

"I felt that way in Ba Sing Se." Zuko didn't look at him, and Ryou didn't think it was likely that the other boy would be able to move fast enough to stop Ryou from leaving, but the younger boy didn't want to leave, suddenly.

"Well, I felt like that before Azula turned up and we conquered it, but…my mission in life, my duty, for years, had been to capture the Avatar," the Fire Lord explained softly. Ryou was watching the older boy with a mix of curiosity and trepidation. "It was the only way I could regain my honor, or so I thought. And then all in a rush, I wasn't just banished, I was declared a traitor and an enemy of the Fire Nation, to be captured and dragged before my father as a prisoner if I ever dared show my face anywhere _near_ the Fire Nation again."

Ryou was captivated by the story. He knew the general outline of events, the ones that had led to what Zuko now described, but somehow, hearing how they had made the exiled prince feel made them even more real. Made the person the events had happened to more real.

"It wouldn't have mattered if I did capture the Avatar then. I wouldn't be able to turn him in without getting myself captured. My purpose, what I thought had been my destiny, was gone. Vanished. And I didn't know where to go, or what to do anymore. I didn't believe I could ever regain my honor."

Ryou felt himself shift closer to the older boy, and again felt as if he were trying comfort his siblings when they relived a bad memory. Only this memory, these memories, were so much more terrible than anything his siblings had ever faced.

"But you regained your own honor. Without anyone's help; no one could have taken it from you in the first place, not really."

"I know that now." Zuko shrugged his shoulders. "I didn't then." He turned his scarred face to meet Ryou's gaze squarely. "The point is, Ryou, I know how you feel now. The hopelessness, the feeling that your life suddenly doesn't make sense anymore. No more duty, no more purpose, right?"

Ryou shifted, not really comfortable with the Fire Lord being able to read his emotions so well. Even if he had gone through a similar experience.

"Yeah, well…"

"But it will only last as long as you wallow in self-pity, Ryou."

"What?!" Ryou yelped. Zuko smirked.

"You're feeling sorry for yourself because you don't think your life has a purpose anymore. You've had this duty since before you were born, to get Aang those letters. And now you have. So what's next? That's what you're asking yourself."

Zuko shifted positions then, rolling to a crouched position that put his face exactly on a level with Ryou's in a motion so smooth it seemed one movement to the other boy.

"And the only way you can answer that question, Ryou, is to do what you know is right. To follow what is right even if it seems crazy."

"But…I don't know what that is." Ryou admitted quietly. He wondered in the back of his mind if he was still dreaming, because the idea of the Fire Lord giving him advice was too surreal. A huff of breath interrupted his musings.

"So find it. Don't sit here and complain that you don't know what it is. You obviously have some talents. Find a way to utilize them. Sokka said you'd be a good swordsman if you practice. You could be a guard, protect something. You have to be good at deflecting awkward questions, if you managed to hide your true feelings for the war for so long. Become a politician. You could help shape where our nation is heading that way."

Ryou gaped, not really seeing Zuko before him, but marveling at how the other boy had so easily cut through the tangle that his life had seemed such a sort time ago.

He blinked as a hand waved before his eyes.

"Ryou? Ryou!"

"Um…yes?"

Zuko rolled his eyes. "Good. You're still with me. Katara would've taken it out of my skin if you'd gone into a coma just because I gave you advice."

"She wouldn't have really…!" Ryou protested. Zuko grinned wryly at the younger boy.

"Don't ever make her mad, Ryou. She's scary when she's mad."

Ryou blinked, not sure how to take that. Zuko just laughed. Ryou shook his head and started to get up.

"Thank you, for telling me that stuff. It helped some." Ryou grinned wryly. "I don't know that I want to be a politician or a guard, but I can find something to do." Zuko was listening quietly, letting him talk uninterrupted. "I am sorry I interrupted you though. You obviously have other things on your mind. I'll go now…"

"Ryou." For the third time a firm hand stopped him and guided him somewhere other than where he had intended to go. Back to the ground. "You didn't interrupt anything more than me worrying over things I can't change." Zuko smirked a bit. "It was probably a good thing you showed up. You interrupted my train of thought, and I'm not so sure what was keeping me from sleeping in the first place now, so I should thank _you._"

"Um…you're welcome?"

Zuko's smirk grew wider. Ryou blinked again and just gave in to the inevitable reality that while he was at the Fire Palace, his life would just be weird.

"Come on, I'll walk you back to your room."

"I don't need you to-!"

"Do you remember how you got here?" Zuko inquired, the skeptical look in his eyes clearly conveying he wouldn't believe a positive answer even if it was given. Ryou stumbled a moment, looking around and trying to orient himself with where he was and where he needed – wanted – to be.

"…no."

"So I'll walk you back." Zuko decided and standing, he helped Ryou to his feet. They walked in silence for a few minutes, until Ryou spoke up, staring determinedly at the floor in front of him.

"Thank you for your advice. It helped. And…I'm sorry I let my fear of your family get in the way of seeing who you really are…Zuko."

Ryou felt Zuko glance back at him, and then heard his snort. The smirk was practically audible in his voice.

"Stop apologizing for everything and we'll call it even…Ryou."


	9. Breaking the News

A/N: This is most definitely longer than I thought it would be. It almost half again as long as most of my other chapters! It's even longer than chapter 5! (Maybe it's a side effect of writing Earthbenders...first Bumi, now Toph...) But it would have been awkward to break this chapter into two parts though, so consider this a present, my dear readers! Such long chapters are not my normal method at all.

Anyway, go read! And tell me what you think.

--

Toph sighed with satisfaction, and pushed away from her seat at the table in Zuko's sitting room, burping contentedly, stretching her legs out and linking her hands behind her head, taking advantage of the more private setting to act like her normal self. She heard an exasperated sigh coming from Katara's direction and that only made Toph grin all the more.

_We're not eating in front of the whole freaking Fire Palace, so I don't have to use my manners. I can be ME._

It was something they'd all gotten used to soon after Zuko's coronation. Eating together in a more private setting allowed Zuko and Aang the chance to relax their guard and be themselves, since they wouldn't have a chance to once the day truly started. And Zuko had to put in an appearance at least at one of the main meals in the dining hall or his courtiers got antsy. Something about proper protocol not being observed.

Toph didn't really care.

"Does anyone know where Ryou is?"

That light, airy voice could only be Aang. Though his voice had deepened as he got taller, he still sounded like his element to Toph.

"It is early. He might not be up yet."

That calm, soothing voice was Katara. Of course, it helped that the Waterbender was sitting right next to her, but Toph could pick out each of her friends by voice alone. She could use her 'sight' to observe the pattern of breathing of each person around her to figure out who was speaking, but occasionally she liked to exercise her more normal senses as well. This was one of those mornings.

"He practically passed out in his food yesterday," sarcastic and sharp, with a veil of laziness masking the keen mind Toph knew he possessed; Sokka. "I _did_ teach him a lot yesterday." Toph knew he was probably preening at his teaching skills, or what he thought were teaching skills, anyway. She didn't bother to flatten her feet on the ground to check.

"Are you sure you didn't just scare him off swords forever, Sokka? After all, being repeatedly whacked on the head isn't very conducive to proper learning, or encouragement."

"I did not hit him that hard! And I only got his head once!"

Toph grinned as the conversation devolved into sibling bickering for a moment.

"He was up late last night, wandering the gardens." Quiet, thoughtful, with a slight hint of a wicked sense of irony. Zuko.

"Wandering the gardens?"

"He didn't even bother to change into night clothes when I left him in his room. He was asleep before I could get back to the door. You sure he wasn't just sleepwalking?"

"I'm sure."

Silence for a few moments. Toph heard an exasperated huff of breath from two directions; one across from her and another to her side.

"Well?" Sokka and Katara demanded in unison.

"What?" Zuko's voice would have sounded even and calm to any one else but Toph. The heir to the Bei Fong fortune, however, could hear the slight hint of amusement in the Fire Lord's tone of voice. Zuko was messing with the Water Tribe siblings deliberately.

Toph wholly approved. Katara always took things too seriously and Sokka could always use someone around who could take his ego down a notch or two without having to throw a boulder his way.

"Why was he wandering the gardens?" Sokka's voice had taken on the tone of one forced to explain something blaringly obvious to a student who was usually very quick to grasp such things. Toph made a bet with herself, flattened one foot on the floor and grinned. Sokka was miming a person walking around in a daze, complete with limp arms and staggering gait.

"Because he couldn't sleep?" Zuko's tone matched Sokka's exactly and Toph stretched her legs out again, still grinning widely.

"Well, of course he couldn't!" Sokka nearly shouted. "That's obvious!"

"Then why did you ask?"

Oh yeah, there was a definite note of amusement in Zuko's voice. More pronounced now than earlier, and Toph knew her Fire Nation friend had to be wearing that exasperating expression that combined a hint of a smirk and bland political politeness at the same time. Katara had described it to her a few weeks back, when Toph had asked why so many of the envoys left a meeting with Zuko either extremely flustered or extremely surprised.

"_You don't know? But it's…oh, you can't see how he looks. I forgot." Katara's voice dropped in apology. Toph scowled and waved the older girl on. "Well…I guess you need to know what he looks like. His facial features are sharp, angular. And the scar on the left side of his face…it makes him look intimidating at times." Toph nodded. She knew about the scar. "And Zuko's got the perfect politician's face when he puts his mind to it. I would never have thought he could hide his emotions so well. He always seemed so…well, I guess open about them, while he was chasing us around the world. And then after he joined us, he didn't really try to hide them…"_

"_Katara…"_

"_Anyway, he'll use that perfectly bland politician's face and the right side of his mouth will curve up just the smallest bit. You almost don't notice it if you're not looking. It always seems like he's restraining a smirk or a sneer."_

"_Ah."_

"_That's why the envoys always get so flustered around him. They never expected the hot-headed Prince Zuko to be a good politician, and when it looks like he's smirking at them without actually doing so…"_

"_Serves them right."_

And now, she just had to wait for it…in three, two, one…

"Hey! Zuko! I'm not one of those stupid envoys! Quit looking at me like that!"

Toph started to laugh, then, great guffawing laughs, the ones that made Katara cringe when they were supposed to be _formal_ with the court. She managed to get herself half-way under control, stood and snagged Sokka's arm as she made for the door.

"Sokka and I will see why Ryou's still in bed this late, Aang. You and Zuko are gonna be late if you don't get moving soon. And don't you have a meeting with Master Pakku, Katara?"

She heard her friends make various squawking noises and scramble for the last of their breakfasts. What would they do without her to keep them in line?

--

Ryou sat at his window, which sported a nice seat just below it, and watched the early morning sky. He had been up late the night before, talking to Zuko, but he had woken just after dawn, as he usually did at home. He had made his bed and on the smoothed covers a travel bag rested, packed and ready to go.

"I don't want to go," Ryou whispered to the pink and purple sky, which was slowly shifting towards the normal blue of a Fire Nation sky. "I've done so much here, and I've made friends…how can I just leave?"

Ryou sat there for a long time, long enough that the sun had risen high in the sky and the rest of the palace had woken up to go about their days. Ryou sighed and got up. He really should show himself soon, or he'd worry his friends.

A pounding on the door interrupted his thoughts.

"Hey! Ryou! Wake up, already!"

"Toph, you don't have to try to break his door."

"I'm not trying to break his door. If I was _trying_, trust me, Snoozles, it'd be broken."

Ryou snickered at the banter going on between Sokka and Toph and threw his travel pack into a corner as he made his way to the door. He would find a way to tell them he was leaving later, but he didn't want them to suspect anything right now. He'd just have to act normally.

It couldn't be that hard, could it?

--

Toph maintained her banter with Sokka as they dragged Ryou down to the kitchens to get something to eat. The Fire Nation boy had missed breakfast, holed up in his room as he'd been. But underneath the cover of the banter, Toph was listening and _seeing._

"Why were you still in bed, anyway, Ryou? Kinda late to be sleeping!"

"I was just tired, is all. You worked me pretty hard yesterday, Sokka!"

Ryou's breathing didn't indicate he was lying. There had been a jump in his heart rate as he spoke, but it had quickly settled down, and now was simply doing a faster than normal tattoo against his chest. Toph cocked her head, as if she were listening for Sokka's response, but the move was more a reflection of her confusion. Ryou was good at hiding his reactions if the only thing that had changed was his pulse and heartbeat, both things no normal person would notice. Why was he lying about why he was in bed for so long?

"You can't tell me you didn't enjoy it though." Sokka preened and strutted as Ryou laughed and conceded the point. "I'm an excellent teacher!"

Toph rolled her sightless eyes and jabbed Sokka in the side with her elbow. He grunted and doubled over with a whuff of displaced air. She grinned.

"Don't get too full of yourself, Snoozles," she warned him in an overly sweet tone of voice. Ryou's heartbeat was starting to slow down. That was good; if they could get him to relax, maybe they could get him to slip up, as well, and tell them what was going on.

"Not…a chance…of…that happening…with you…around," Sokka managed to gasp out, one hand rubbing his side and Toph could sense he was looking her way as he spoke. She simply grinned cheekily. Ryou's only partially smothered laugh moved ahead of her. Toph cocked her head, curious. She focused her senses, and caught the smell of fresh-baked bread.

_Ah, he found the kitchens,_ she thought to herself, dragging Sokka after the other boy, declaring her intention of finding more food as well. _Whatever Ryou was worried about, it's not something I can sense anymore. His heart rate and pulse are normal. I'll just have to be alert. _

A small self-satisfied grin appeared on Toph's face. She did so enjoy a good challenge.

--

Sokka leaned against a momentarily unused table in the kitchens, watching Ryou and Toph sweet-talk some extra food out of the cooks. Something seemed off about Ryou today.

_But I don't think he's bothered by not being a bender anymore. I think we fixed that yesterday. And he doesn't really seem worried. More…gloomy, I guess. But why? What happened between last night and this morning to make him sad?_

"Absolutely not. I know you already had breakfast, Toph, and it's not my problem if your friend slept in too late to get any food. I'm sure he can make do on a few apple-pears until lunch."

"But Ryou hasn't been here before, he's never tasted any of your sweet rolls, Sanaz. Please? Just two?" Toph begged with the wide-eyed innocent expression she assumed whenever she wanted people to notice the fact that she was a little blind girl more than the fact that she was one of the Avatar's teachers and could take care of herself perfectly well. Sokka snorted to himself with amusement as the head cook wilted slightly under the hopeful gaze of the little Earth Kingdom girl - though it really wasn't a 'gaze,' since the word implied being able to see - and the hangdog and sleepy-eyed-but-trying-to-hide-it expression Ryou had adopted.

Sanaz finally did capitulate and handed a small basket filled with two sweet rolls and three apple-pears to Ryou, casting an admonishing look Toph's way as she did.

"And don't think you fooled me with that little act of yours, Mistress Toph," Sanaz warned, though her eyes glinted merrily. "I know perfectly well how you conducted yourself just now is very far from your usual behavior."

"But, Sanaz!" Toph protested, keeping to her character. "I was only helping a friend!"

"Go on, get out of here you," Sanaz shooed the two younger children out and waved for Sokka to depart as well. He pushed off from the table as Sanaz turned more fully to him. "Don't you let them get into trouble now," she warned.

"Oh, I'll try. But it's hard enough keeping Toph in line, what with her love of magic dirt…"

Sanaz chuckled and shooed him out of the kitchen as well. Sokka went willingly, darting forward to snag one of the apple-pears before Toph took his.

_That gives me an idea though. _

"Hey, Toph! Ryou! I've got an idea."

--

"What are we doing?" Ryou asked, peering warily around the clearing Sokka had dragged Toph and him to.

"We're going to train!" Sokka said, grinning widely. "See the trees are the perfect shield for sneak attacks and the terrain around here can easily be used to get higher ground or-"

"Oh. We're playing hide-and-explode?" Ryou asked innocently. Sokka choked on air and frantically slashed his hands in a negative gesture.

"We're – not – playing – a – game." The Water Tribe boy ground out between his teeth, attempting to control his still slightly erratic breathing.

"Oh, relax, Sokka," Toph drawled. "Yeah, Ryou, you might as well call this hide-and-explode, if you want. It's the same thing, basically. Snoozles just likes feeling important when he pretends it qualifies as real training."

"Toph!"

"What? It's not like you can call a halt when you're actually _in _a fight."

"But the point of training is to fix things as you go!"

"But why are we training?"

Ryou's interjection cut through the other two's argument and Toph grinned, inclining her head towards Sokka in an indication that the older boy should field the question.

"What good would that lesson I gave you yesterday be if you don't practice more?" He demanded. Ryou blinked, and Sokka grinned, a small glint in his eyes the only hint of his humor. "Unless, of course, you've decided you don't want to learn more."

"No! I want to learn more. So how do we do this?" Ryou asked eagerly. Sokka grinned and started to explain the rules to Ryou. Toph stood slightly back from them both, with her arms crossed and a small satisfied grin on her face. Sokka couldn't help but imitate her as he watched Ryou.

_He's forgotten whatever got him all gloomy this morning. Let's see if we can keep it up._

--

Aang and Zuko departed the meeting room as quickly as was polite, and headed immediately for the small sitting room that Katara and Suki had found. The first of this final round of meetings had not gone as well as they had hoped.

"I don't get it. Everything was going so well, too," Aang lamented softly. Zuko reached the sitting room door first and wrenched it open with more force than was strictly necessary.

"It's politics, Aang. They all want something and as we just saw none of those desires coincide." The Fire Lord stalked inside and kicked at a footstool, sending it flipping end over end into the corner. Aang, glancing after the abused stool, sighed deeply. It'd been a long time since Zuko had taken out his anger on his surroundings like that.

"They were all so eager to end the war though, and now…if they're not careful, someone is going to start a new one all over again."

Zuko growled again, pacing around the room like a caged tiger-bear and Aang could tell the Fire Lord was attempting to control his anger by the way the few lit candles in the room flared and dimmed in sync with Zuko's breathing.

Aang sighed again and flopped into a chair, staring morosely at the wall opposite him. He really didn't understand why the same people who had been so eager to end the war were now so determined to make it so that their respective nations came out on top of the peace agreements. It would start another war if some of the proposals in the meeting today ever were seriously considered.

_It doesn't make any sense at all. How can-_

Aang's thoughts were interrupted by the abrupt opening of the door, rather reminiscent of the way Zuko had banged it open not so many minutes ago. The airbender looked up, startled, as Zuko spun on his heel, mouth open to yell at whoever had intruded upon their sanctuary, be they servant, noble, or envoy.

And closed his mouth, just as quickly, as Sokka stormed in, face thunderous and his entire posture radiating contained fury.

"Sokka?" Aang asked, confused. He had rarely seen the Water Tribe boy so angry. Zuko stayed back, out of the way, not very inclined to invite any of Sokka's snipping his way at the moment.

"I've HAD it!" Sokka exploded as his furious gaze settled on Aang. "I have tried EVERYTHING I could think of and a few things I NEVER want to do again!"

Toph marched into the room then, dragging a perplexed looking Ryou by the arm. Her expression was just as thunderous as Sokka's and Aang and Zuko were frankly amazed the floor hadn't started to vibrate in reaction to her anger yet.

"Toph, Sokka…what's-?" Aang tried again to get some sense out of one of his friends, only to be cut off by Sokka's continuing rant.

"I'm running out of ideas!" Sokka seemed to take this as a personal affront. "I'm not dealing with this anymore, Aang! Do your freaky Avatar magic stuff, or whatever you want to call it, but FIX HIM!" An accusing finger zeroed in on Ryou, who looked slightly panicked to have Sokka's ire focused on him. The older Water Tribe boy spun on his heel, and stomped out of the room, declaring, "I'm going to go hit something!"

Aang didn't have time to do anything more than take a breath before Toph stalked over to him, still dragging Ryou. She shoved the Fire Nation boy into Aang and planted her hands on her hips.

"If I have to listen to his heart going at speeds that could challenge a cheetah-fly at its quickest anymore while he's trying to pretend nothing's wrong with him, I'm going to hang him upside down from the CEILING!!" she declared and stalked back out of the room, slamming the door in her wake.

Zuko, Aang and Ryou stared at the slightly vibrating door in astonishment, then turned identical perplexed looks on each other.

--

Zuko leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes, just listening to Aang and Ryou throw stories back and forth at each other about Ryou's great-grandfather. For a person Zuko'd never met, he was learning quite a bit about him.

Kuzon, for instance, in the story Aang was currently relating, apparently had at one time attempted to make a modified version of an Airbender's glider, and had crashed it into the side of his neighbor's house when he tried to test it. This story inspired quite a bit of laughter and no little bit of snickering on Aang's part. No doubt the memory was very clear for him, since while it had happened over a hundred years ago, for Aang, it had only been about three years since the incident.

"…never seen Jabir so mad! He made Kuzon clean off all the scorch marks and fix all of the holes he put in the side wall. And his dad made him do extra chores for a week because of it."

"He really tried to make a glider that would work with firebending?"

"Yeah, he said it wasn't fair Amihan and I got to go flying around all the time, whenever we wanted, so he was going to find a way to do it, too. We tried to tell him flying a glider wasn't as easy as it looked, but…" Aang shrugged, laughter still filtering through in his voice. Ryou started to laugh again. "Alright," Aang said, "your turn."

"Okay…" Ryou paused a moment, thinking of a story. "Oh! This one is my sister's favorite. See, when my grandfather was about ten-"

The door opened just then, interrupting Ryou's story and causing Zuko to open his eyes. Katara stood just inside the still open doorway, eyeing all three of the boys inside with an exasperated expression. Zuko and Aang shifted a bit nervously, unsure if Katara was going to imitate her brother and start shouting. Ryou simply looked curiously at her.

"Are _any_ of you aware of the time?"

"Uh…no." Aang admitted after glancing side-to-side at Zuko and Ryou, who both shook their heads at him. "Why? There aren't any more meetings today, so we don't have to be anywhere."

Katara rolled her eyes. "No, there are no more meetings today. But you might remember that you still have to eat, don't you? Dinner has already been started."

Zuko paled. Katara smirked at him. "Katara, Archana isn't…"

"Oh yes, she's on the war path. You're late, _Fire Lord._ And you didn't show up at lunch time because of the meeting."

Zuko didn't bother to answer. He hastily pulled his rumpled clothing into a more orderly arrangement and darted out of the room past her. Katara grinned and turned to face Aang.

"Archana will probably never let him eat if you don't try to cool her down some, Aang."

"I still don't get why the Fire Lord has to be present at one of the meals in the main dining hall. What's the point?"

Katara shrugged. "I have no idea, but Archana will probably skin him alive for being late if you don't go help him calm her down."

Aang looked briefly mutinous before he levered himself to his feet, shooting an apologetic glance Ryou's way.

"I'm sorry-" he started, but Ryou cut him off with a smile.

"Don't worry about it, Aang. I understand. Besides, I need to eat too. I hadn't realized it was this late already."

Aang, Ryou and Katara left the sitting room together, walking just slightly more quickly than usual to reach the main dining hall before the Mistress of Palace Ceremonies flayed the newly crowned Fire Lord for being late to dinner.

--

"Proper ceremony and tradition cannot just be ignored, Fire Lord! You should know that better than anyone. Our nation has a very proud history and to simply disregard one of the-"

"Archana, I did not disregard the tradition. I simply lost track of the time."

"-most ancient traditions we have is irresponsible-"

"I was not being irresponsible, Archana. And aren't we wasting even more time by arguing about this?"

"-sure your mother, Princess Ursa, taught you better than to disregard such hallowed traditions-"

Aang and Katara, coming up the corridor behind the dining hall, winced at the last words the Mistress of Palace Ceremonies had fired at their friend. Ryou wasn't certain how to react. He was sure the way the woman was speaking to Zuko was way past insubordination and surely such a lecture, even if deserved, would be better conducted in private.

"That wasn't a good thing to mention," Katara murmured.

"I'd better go help him before Zuko decides he's had enough and does something he'll regret later," Aang sped up his pace and rounded the corner in time to interrupt Zuko's angry rejoinder.

Ryou moved to follow, hoping he and Katara could slip past the confrontation without getting noticed by the angry woman and was startled to feel a hand on his arm holding him back. He glanced over his shoulder to see Katara shake her head at him.

"Do you think we should go around another way?" he asked, perplexed. True, he'd not been in the palace long, but he was pretty sure having to go around to one of the other entrances to the dining hall would mean back-tracking through at least five different corridors and take at least another ten or so minutes to get to the dining hall.

"No, this way will be fine in a moment, but I wanted to talk to you, Ryou." Katara drew him to the side of the corridor, and regarded him with serious blue eyes. "We're friends, aren't we?"

"Yes! We haven't been for very long, but I still think we are."

"Good. Cause I think of you the same way. And so does everyone else. So, I'm going to tell you something, as a friend, that I think you need to hear."

"Okay…" Ryou shifted uncomfortably. He had a feeling Katara had also gotten wind of his preoccupation and was now going to take her turn at cheering him up. Aang had tried earlier by getting him to share more stories about his great grandfather while Zuko threw in comments every now and then. _I thought I hid my feelings better than this. Everyone seems to know I'm worried about something. But they can't know why I'm preoccupied; at least that's something. I managed to divert everyone else today, even if they don't believe that I'm fine. I just have to do it once more._ However, he found himself unable to forestall Katara's words, not in the face of her sincere wish to help him.

"Ryou, something's been bothering you all day. I could have seen that even without Sokka telling me. But we're friends and we just want to help you." Katara placed a gentle hand on his shoulder and continued quietly. "I won't push you if you really don't want to talk, but will you tell me what's bothering you? I want to help."

Ryou stared at the ground beneath his feet for a few long moments. Katara's hand never moved from his shoulder as she waited and in the face of her patient persistence, he felt his words of denial die before they ever left his mouth.

_Huh,_ he thought to himself, _Katara's managed to do what no one else today has. She just told me she didn't want to pry if I was really determined not to speak and said she'd listen if I wanted to talk. And that was more effective than everything else the others have tried today._

"I…" Ryou fumbled with his words for a moment, and then sighed as he looked up at the Water Tribe girl. "I don't want to go back home. That's what's bothering me." He scuffed the tip of one shoe against the floor, smiling slightly. "I've done so much since I got here. And not just fulfilling my family's duty to the Avatar. I made friends. And I've learned new things, like the swordsmanship Sokka's been teaching me." The Fire Nation boy looked back up at Katara. "But I was only supposed to be here long enough to give Aang the letters and tell him why they were written. I really should have left this morning. I finished everything I was supposed to do. My family will worry if I'm gone much longer."

"Ryou," Katara's smile was evident in her voice. "Just because you go back home, do you think that means we can't be friends anymore?" Ryou blinked up at her.

"But…all of you have to be here to make sure the peace talks go alright. I can't expect you to come visit me. It would be selfish, after how long the nations have been at war."

"Oh, Ryou, that's not true. You're not selfish to want to keep the friends you've made. We'll come visit you. I know Aang remembers where your great-grandfather used to live, and if I remember right, you mentioned the first night your family still lived in that village."

"Yeah, we do, but-"

"But nothing. We'll come visit. I want to meet your siblings anyway. They sound like fun." Ryou blinked, and a tentative smile started on his face.

"Really? You'd come to visit me?"

"We all will, Ryou. Don't worry about that. As soon as the peace talks are done, we're going to need a vacation. I think it'd be a wonderful idea to spend part of that time with you and your family." Katara's smile suddenly turned into a wicked little grin. "Besides, you agreed to let Sokka teach you the sword. Don't think he'll forget that. He'll keep bugging you about more lessons for a LONG time."

Ryou grinned himself. "I don't mind. I like the lessons. And…maybe…" He hesitated, but went on anyway. "You think Sokka would teach my little sister too? She'd love that."

Katara laughed. "You can ask him at dinner. Come on, let's go."

As the Water Tribe girl towed him after her to the dining hall, Ryou grinned widely to himself.

_I wonder what my family will think when the heroes of the war come to visit? And what would they think about Zuko being my friend?_

Ryou giggled at the images in his mind's eye. Oh yes, the reactions of his family to everything he had accomplished during his brief stay in the Fire Palace would be amusing indeed.


	10. Epilogue: Surprises

Epilogue: Surprises

Heads were turned aside from the incendiary glare directed their way. Several people shifted uncomfortably in their seats as well, sure they would prefer facing the fiery glare than the gray-eyed disappointment coming from the monk at the front table.

"We will break for two days to allow everyone to consider just what these peace talks are supposed to accomplish," the owner of the glare said firmly. The other, more disappointed than anything, nodded his firm consent.

"These talks are the best chance we have at peace. I can't believe anyone here wants to continue the war, not after we finally have a chance to end it."

Both speakers stood and left, leaving the envoys feeling like nothing so much as a bunch of justly scolded school children.

Outside, the sun was nearing its mid-morning peak.

--

"Hey! Hey, Ryou! Aren't you awake yet?"

Ryou was startled out of the pleasant state between sleep and full alertness by the pounding on his door. He'd been enjoying the fact that he didn't have to be up and doing chores in the early hours of the morning, entertaining a daydream about the look on his sister's face when she found out who she'd be learning swords from, let alone the fact she could learn if she wanted. He was a little embarrassed to find that he'd apparently been daydreaming longer than he had thought, since the sun was well on its way to the noon-day high. He jerked out of bed and nearly fell flat on his face.

"What!?" he growled at the door, but it came out garbled through the sheet that had somehow twisted around his head and upper body. Thankfully, it hid his flush as well.

"If we wanna leave before the envoys get up the nerve to come looking for me, we have to go soon! Get up!"

Ryou finally managed to untangle himself from the sheet, fight down the blush and stumble to the door, hopping on one foot for a few moments to kick the rest of the sheet free of his other foot. He pulled open the door, to see Aang standing there, grinning widely, and practically levitating in place.

The Fire Nation boy blinked, and then rubbed at his eyes. Aang ought to be in the meeting, shouldn't he? And he never came out of them looking this excited and…the only word was bouncy.

"Aang…what are you talking about?" he asked warily. Aang cocked his head at the other boy and then started to giggle.

"You forgot, didn't you?"

"Forgot what?"

"You said last night you wanted to go home today, remember?"

"Um…yeah, I guess I remember. And you guys got me to agree to wait another day before I left," he commented, trying to kick his brain back into the concerns of the everyday, instead of the pleasant daydreams he'd been entertaining earlier. He'd done a lot of things last night, from getting Sokka's promise to teach Shula swords and having the others all assure him that 'of course we'll come visit you after the peace talks are over! You're our friend!' just as Katara had predicted. "But what does that have to do with you pounding on my door?"

Aang smothered his laughter and steered Ryou back into his room.

"Remember I told you that you wouldn't have to worry about spending money on places to stay on your way back?"

"Yeah…but I already told you, Aang, I'm not going to accept charity. I can get back home fine with what I have left over from the trip here."

"I'm not lending you money to get home, Ryou." Aang's gray eyes were dancing with mischief and laughter. Ryou was starting to wonder if he should be feeling apprehensive. They hadn't been able to exchange many stories about his great-grandfather, but the ones they had had time for told Ryou that Great-Grandfather Kuzon had been a prankster, and Ryou hadn't had any trouble figuring out Aang had been right there with him for a lot of the stunts they had pulled.

"So…what are you talking about, then?" Ryou picked up the sheet he had pulled off the bed when he tumbled out of it and simply dumped it back on the bed.

"I'm talking about how you're getting home."

"Well…yes, I knew that, but you're not being very clear." Ryou grumbled. Aang laughed again and, looking around, spotted Ryou's already packed travel bag. He grabbed it and lobbed it at the other boy's head.

"Get dressed, finish whatever packing you need to do and meet me at the sitting room in ten minutes. You'll like this!"

With that, Aang was gone. Ryou blinked after the disappearing Airbender and shook his head.

"What is he so excited about?"

--

"-sure you don't need me to-"

"Aang, we covered this earlier. We're breaking from the peace meetings for two days to give the envoys time to get their heads on straight, so you don't have anything you have to do Avatar-wise today or tomorrow."

"But what if-"

"They're gonna have to get used to the fact that you have your own life and can't always be here to solve their problems for them, Twinkletoes. We'll keep 'em in line until you get back."

"Why are you so nervous about it all of a sudden, anyway? You wouldn't stop bouncing earlier."

"I guess I'm just worried about not being here if something happens."

"We're perfectly capable of handling any situation that comes up by ourselves, Aang."

"Yeah, I know that."

"Then there isn't any problem. I'm spending some time with Mai, so you can spend some out of the capital. We both need the break."

Ryou blinked at the door in front of him, hand hovering just above the handle, travel bag slung over his shoulder.

_They're breaking from the peace meetings for two days? Why? And where is Aang going?_

Ryou's earlier vague feelings of apprehension came back, doubled in strength. He took a deep breath, and opened the door, admitting himself to the sitting room. Aang stood in the middle of the room, still bouncing slightly on the balls of his feet. He looked, Ryou thought to himself, as if he might take flight at any moment, he was containing so much energy. Toph was standing behind the Airbender, shaking her head at his inability to stand still and Zuko was sprawled comfortably over one of the chairs in the room, looking slightly amused at the entire scene.

"Um…okay, Aang, now what?" Ryou decided to ignore the laughter he could see the other two trying to contain – which made him nervous since he knew Zuko could have hidden his amusement if he'd wanted to, and that could only mean he wanted Ryou to know he was amused about something…

"Good, Ryou, you're here!" Aang's grin got wider. "Now we just have to wait for Katara to get here-"

"No you don't, because I'm here." Katara opened the door and barely waited long enough for Sokka to stumble through with a pack full of what Ryou thought might be food, judging from the smell and the way Katara lectured him to 'be careful of that! You'll bruise the fruit!' "You won't be gone long enough to really need anything besides small things, but I've put in enough for you guys to stop somewhere and make a meal if you want to and there's plenty for the trip back, Aang. And the second pack has bandages and a few useful herbs for injuries, though neither of you better get hurt," she glared at them briefly before continuing. "And I put in a couple blankets as well. It'll be cold up there." Sokka, ignoring all this, dumped the pack on a chair by Aang and immediately flopped onto the nearest open chair, grumbling about bossing and know-it-all younger sisters. Katara placed the much smaller pack she had slung over her shoulder next to it and turned around and smiled over at Ryou. "I think you'll have fun, Ryou."

"Fun with what?" he asked warily. "Why do we need food to do this anyway?"

"Because you have to eat something on the way home, of course, _Spyboy."_

Ryou winced, really wishing Toph would get tired of her nickname for him, but not really having any hope that she would. She had dragged stories out of him about the ways he had deflected awkward questions during the war, and her observations of his deflection of their worry yesterday had only cemented her opinion. Then her words penetrated his brain, and he gaped at her, nickname forgotten.

"On the way home?!"

"Yep!" Aang said cheerfully. "Come on, I'll show you how you're getting home." He grabbed the food pack, slung it over his own shoulder – using some subtle airbending to keep it in place and its weight off his back, Ryou suspected, since Sokka had had trouble with it just a few moments ago - let the other hang from the crook of his elbow, snatched Ryou's arm with his free hand and dragged him out of the room, tossing a "See you guys later!" over his shoulder. Ryou only had time for a similar farewell before he was yanked out the door.

--

"You're joking. You are not serious."

"I'm serious."

"No, you aren't."

"Oh, I'm serious. It'll be fun."

"Fun?"

"Yeah."

Ryou finally tore his gaze from the gigantic flying bison that was regarding him with calm interest to the grinning monk standing beside him.

"I'm going home on a _flying bison?"_

"Yep." Aang was still grinning, though he moderated it a bit, mindful of Ryou's shock.

"Why? No, that's not what I mean…I mean…that is…but…don't you have Avatar things to do, instead of taking me back home on your bison? Really, I don't need you to, I got here just fine by myself…"

"Ryou. I want to. And you'll have fun, I'm sure of it. Besides, Zuko and I cancelled the meetings for a couple days to give the envoys time to really think about what they're asking for in the peace meetings." Aang's face briefly turned serious. "And I want them to decide to work together without my help. If I always have to lead them through the big decisions, they won't ever live in peace with each other."

Ryou looked over at the other boy, and for the first time, he was struck by the difference between the Avatar's age and the maturity he'd been forced to obtain. Aang was only thirteen, just two years older than Ryou.

"Okay, then," the Fire Nation boy said, a slow grin spreading on his face. Aang needed some time to be a kid again, and it was hard to do that in the Fire Palace, even with his friends to help, because they had to be just as responsible as he did. Ryou didn't have any large responsibilities anymore, and his parents had let him be a kid for as long as they could. Aang hadn't had that opportunity. Ryou turned to look at Appa speculatively. "Just how do I get up there, though?"

Aang's delighted laugh rang through the courtyard.

--

"GAH!" Ryou gripped the saddle tightly, feeling as if he were about to fall out of Appa's saddle. "Don't DO that, Aang!"

"All we did was turn, Ryou." The laugh was obvious in the Avatar's voice. Ryou grumbled as he loosened his death grip on the saddle.

"Appa almost turned on his side! That's not JUST a turn!"

"You'll get used to it, Ryou."

"Not likely," Ryou muttered to himself.

--

"I told you that you'd get used to it."

"Just be quiet."

Aang laughed.

--

"Don't tell me where your house is. I wanna see if I still remember where it is."

"But Aang-"

"It wasn't that long ago I was here last. I mean, to me it wasn't that long ago. I know it's been over a hundred years-"

"Aang-"

"I can find it, Ryou! I'm positive."

"Yes, that's nice, but-"

"Come on, Ryou, just let me try."

Silence. Ryou sat back in the saddle and grinned to himself, waiting for the question.

"Um…Ryou?"

"I thought I was supposed to let you find it on your own." The grin kept getting wider.

"Isn't the house supposed to be right there?"

"There was an earthquake when my grandfather was about fifteen. They had to move the village farther back from the cliff to make sure no one's house would fall into the ocean if another large quake happened." Ryou reported matter-of-factly.

"Oh."

"You said you didn't want help."

"Oh, be quiet."

Silence once again fell between the two boys.

"Just how far back did they move the village?"

"Wasn't I supposed to be quiet?"

"Ryou!"

--

"They're not gonna believe this."

"Even with me and Appa right here for them to see?" Aang asked, amused. Ryou grinned over at his friend.

"Especially with you two here. I'm going to have so much fun with this."

"Where should I land?" Aang peered down at the ground that was coming closer as Appa circled lazily above Ryou's house. Ryou carefully leaned over and surveyed the ground below.

"It looks different from up here," he observed, then pointed to a spot behind his home. "There, see? Right behind the wood pile? That ought to be big enough for Appa, and we don't put anything back there that we want to keep, so if he steps on something, it won't matter."

"Right."

--

Shula stomped out the back door of the house, grumbling to herself.

"Stupid Ryou and the stupid letters…gets to go to the Fire Palace and _I _get his chores…_so_ gonna owe me when he gets back…Never gonna let him live it down…supposed to have been back already…"

THUMP.

Shula started at the loud noise and slight shaking in the ground. Her eyes snapped up and zeroed in on the gigantic _something_ that had landed in the meadow-like area behind the wood pile. Her mouth dropped open and her eyes nearly popped out of her skull.

Two figures were sliding down from the top of the thing in her yard, one with much more grace than the other. One wasn't familiar to her, but she could guess who it was. After all, how many guys now-a-days wore the orange and yellow of an Air Nomad? And the other figure was one she'd know just about anywhere.

"MOMMA!" She shrieked. "RYOU'S BACK! AND HE BROUGHT THE AVATAR WITH HIM!!!"

--

A/N: So there you go, the end of Letters From the Past. I feel oddly accomplished and depressed at the same time. I finished what I set out to do, albeit with seven more chapters than I thought I'd need, but I did. Oh, but rest assured, dear readers, I am far from done with the Avatar-verse. I've at least three more stories planned, two of which are nearly done and will soon be posted. So keep watching my profile page for updates, cause they'll keep coming! (I'm especially fond of my OC Ryou. He's definitely going to be featured again, and I'll introduce his family as well. He's just so much fun to write! Though I think Shula will quickly earn a spot right next to her older brother.)

Thanks go to all of my reviewers for their wonderful comments and constructive criticism and especially to my beta, Caelum, who started out reviewing and graciously agreed to help me by beta-ing this story. Her advice and suggestions have made my chapters better, and caught some rather odd mistakes before they were posted as well! (Honestly, I didn't mean to pull in that Land Before Time term, it just happened! :P )


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